EDUCATION  DEPt. 


THE  COLONIAL  ERA 


THE  AMERICAN   HISTORY  SERIES. 

Five  voUtnies,  I2mo,  with  maps  and  plans,  eacli,  $1.25. 

THE  COLONIAL  ERA. -By  Rev.  GEORGE  P.  FISHEB. 
D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in 
Yale  University. 

THE  FRENCH  WAR  AND  THE  REVOLUTION.— By 
WILLIAM  M.  SLOANE,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  History  in 

Princeton  University. 

THE  MAKING  OF  THE  NATION.— By  Gen.  FRANCIS 
A.  WALKER,  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute 
of  Technology. 

FROM  THE  CONCLUSION  OF  PEACE  IN  1815  TO 
THE  END  OF  RECONSTRUCTION.  (2  vols.)— By 
JOHN  W.  BURGESS,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  His 
tory,  Political  Science,  and  Constitutional  Law  in 
Columbia  College.  (In  preparation.) 


THE   AMERICAN   HISTORY   SERIES 


THE   COLONIAL  ERA 


BY 

GEORGE   PARK   FISHER,    D.D.,   LL.D. 

PROFESSOR  IN  YALE  UNIVERSITY 


WITH  MAPS 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 
1895 


COPYRIGHT,  1892,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


EDUCATTM 


TROW  DIRECTORY 

PRINTING  AND   BOOKBINDING  COMPANY 
NEW   YORK 


DEDICATED 

AS  A  TOKEN  OF   AFFECTION 
TO 

GEORGE  WHARTON  PEPPER 


MG9897 


PREFACE 


THIS  work  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  four,  which,  although 
distinct  in  authorship,  and  each  complete  in  itself,  are  de 
signed  to  furnish  in  a  brief  but  readable  form  a  con 
nected  history  of  the  United  States  from  the  discovery  of 
the  Continent  to  the  present  time.  The  present  volume, 
on  the  Colonial  Period,  carries  the  narrative  down  to  the 
year  1756,  the  date  of  the  Declaration  of  War  between 
England  and  France.  It  embraces,  therefore,  the  begin 
nings  of  the  decisive  struggle  of  the  two  nations  for 
dominion  in  America,  or  of  what  used  to  be  called  the 
"  Old  French  War."  The  record  of  the  remainder  of  the 
Colonial  Period  may  conveniently  find  a  place  in  connec 
tion  with  the  era  of  the  Revolution,  of  which  it  was  the 
prelude. 

Until  we  reach  the  point  where  the  narrative  in  this 
volume  ends,  it  is  expedient,  at  least  in  a  work  of  no 
larger  compass  than  the  present,  to  trace  the  history 
of  the  Colonies  one  by  one.  It  is  true  that  the  Eng 
lish  Colonies  from  the  beginning  were  moving  slowly 
towards  the  goal  of  political  unity.  In  the  American 
Union  the  federal  and  national  elements  are  combined 
in  the  way  so  concisely  stated  in  a  passage  from  the  pen 
of  Madison  in  The  Federalist,  where  it  is  said  :  "  Our  sys- 


Vlll  PREFACE 

tern  is  neither  a  national  nor  a  federal  system,  but  a  com 
position  of  both.  In  its  foundations,  federal,  not  national ; 
in  the  sources  from  which  the  ordinary  powers  of  govern 
ment  are  drawn,  partly  federal  and  partly  national ;  in  the 
operation  of  these  powers,  national,  not  federal ;  in  the  ex 
tent  of  them,  again,  federal,  not  national ;  and  finally,  in  the 
authoritative  mode  of  introducing  amendments,  neither 
wholly  federal  nor  wholly  national."  Albeit  the  system 
was,  "in  its  foundations,  federal,  not  national/'  yet  from 
the  start,  prior  to  any  organic  connection  of  the  Colonies, 
save  their  common  relation  to  the  British  Crown,  histori 
cal  forces  were  in  action  that  were  destined  to  create  a 
national  factor  of  not  less  power  than  the  federal  element 
in  shaping  our  civil  polity.  But  in  the  space  traversed 
by  the  present  volume  the  Colonies  were  predominantly 
distinct  communities,  so  that  with  the  exception  of  the 
group  of  them  comprised  in  New  England  they  can  best 
be  treated  separately.  Yet  the  English  Revolution  of  1G88 
is  so  important  a  landmark,  that  it  appeared  to  me  advis 
able  to  break  the  narrative  into  two  parts.  By  this  ar 
rangement  the  attention  is  not  kept  fastened  on  each 
Colony  by  itself  through  the  entire  course  of  the  history, 
while  the  others  are  in  the  main  left  out  of  sight.  It  also 
seemed  a  little  more  conducive  to  unity  of  impression  to 
take  up  the  several  Colonies  in  a  different  order  in  the 
second  Part,  from  that  adopted  in  the  first. 

While  it  has  been  my  aim  in  the  composition  of  this 
book  to  consult  brevity,  I  have  not  been  willing  to  reduce 
the  narrative  to  a  bare  sketch.  Political  events  must  nec 
essarily  have  a  prominent  place  ;  but  manners,  customs, 
and  phases  of  intellectual  progress  are  not  left  unnoticed. 


PREFACE  IX 

It  need  not  be  said  that  there  is  often  controversy,  and 
sometimes  heated  controversy,  respecting  events  in  the 
past  and  the  merits  of  actors  who  have  long  ago  passed  off 
the  stage.  In  this  particular  our  early  American  history 
forms  no  exception.  As  to  the  judgments  expressed  in  the 
following  pages  on  persons  and  things  that  are  still  the 
subject  of  debate,  all  I  can  say  is  that  they  have  not  been 
hastily  formed,  and  that  I  have  given  heed  to  the  famil 
iar,  but  never  trite,  injunction  to  hear  both  sides — "Audi 
alteram  partem." 

While  I  have  spent  much  time  in  the  study  of  the  orig 
inal  sources,  with  special  painstaking  on  doubtful  points, 
I  have  received  aid  from  many  writers  who  in  later  times 
have  explored  the  field  of  our  early  history,  or  particular 
sections  of  it.  There  are  three  of  the  comparatively 
recent  works  to  which  I  am  bound  to  make  special 
acknowledgments.  These  are  Winsor's  "Narrative  and 
Critical  History  of  America,"  Doyle's  "English  Colonies 
in  America,"  and  Palfrey's  "  History  of  New  England." 
A  brief  estimate  of  the  character  of  these  works  will  be 
found  in  the  Bibliographical  Note  at  the  end  of  the 
volume. 

NEW  HAVEN,  February  26,  1892. 


CONTENTS 


PART  L 

FROM  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA  TO  THE  ENGLISH 
REVOLUTION   OF   1688 


CHAPTER  L  PAGE 

PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY,    ....••••! 

The   Pacific   Coast— The   Atlantic   Coast— The   Appalachian 
Ranges— The  Forests. 

CHAPTER  II. 
THE  INDIANS, 6 

Their  Languages— The  Peruvians— The  Mexicans— The  Red 
Men— The  Mound-Builders— The  Indians  Classified— Ind 
ian  Traits— Their  Manners— Their  Occupations,  Food,  and 
Dwellings— Tribal  Arrangements— Their  Religion— Their 
Moral  Qualities— Their  Number. 

CHAPTER  III- 

DISCOVERIES  AND  SETTLEMENTS  PRIOR  TO  THE  FIRST  PER 
MANENT  ENGLISH  COLONY, 12 

The  Renaissance— New  Inventions— Maritime  Enterprise— 
The  First  Voyage  of  Columbus— "The  Indies"  Allotted  to 
Spain  and  Portugal — Columbus  Discovers  the  Mainland — 


Xll  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Voyages  of  the  Cabots— Spanish  Voyagers  —  Florida  Dis 
covered — The  Mississippi  Discovered — De  Soto — Spanish 
Settlers  in  Florida  —  Rise  of  New  France  —  Champlaiu 
Founds  Quebec — English  Voyages  of  Exploration — Gilbert 
and  Raleigh— Gosuold. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
VIRGINIA  UNTIL  1688, 30 

James  I.  and  his  Policy— Incentives  to  Colonization — The 
Virginia  Company — Constitution  of  its  Two  Branches — The 
London  Company — The  Settlement  of  Jamestown — John 
Smith— The  New  Charter— Delaware—  Dale— Argall—  The 
Third  Charter — The  House  of  Burgesses— Growth  of  the 
Colony — Annulling  of  the  Charter — Spanish  Intrigues — 
Harvey  —  Berkeley  —  Under  the  Commonwealth — Naviga 
tion  Laws — Arlington  and  Culpepper — Bacon's  Rebellion 
— A  Royal  Provinces-Negro  Slavery. 

CHAPTER  V. 
MARYLAND  UNTIL  1688, 62 

The  First  Lord  Baltimore — Avalon — Grant  of  Maryland — 
The  Maryland  Charter — Religion  in  Maryland — Toleration 
— Clayborne's  Settlement — The  Maryland  Colony — Conflict 
with  Clayborne — Period  of  the  Commonwealth — Non-con 
formists  in  Maryland — Act  of  Religious  Freedom — Puritan 
Ascendency — Baltimore  Regains  His  Province — Fendall — 
Slavery — Dispute  withPenn — End  of  Proprietary  Govern 
ment—Society  in  Maryland. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  CAROLINAS  UNTIL  1688, 76 

Grant  of  Carolina  by  Charles  II.— The  Two  Settlements— 
"The  Fundamental  Constitutions" — North  Carolina— Civil 
Disturbances— Sothel— Ludwell  —South  Carolina— Slavery 
— Scotch-Irish  and  Huguenot  Immigrants — Civil  Disturb- 


CONTENTS  Xlll 

CHAPTER  VII. 

PAGE 

NEW  ENGLAND  TO  THE  PLANTING  OF  CONNECTICUT  IN  1636,    82 

The  Plymouth  Company — The  Popham  Colony — John  Smith 
in  New  England  —  The  Council  of  New  England  —  Puri 
tanism  in  England — Religious  Parties  in  Elizabeth's  Reign 
— The  Independents — The  Scrooby  Congregation — The  Pil 
grims  in  Holland  —  The  Voyage  of  the  Mayflower  —  The 
Settlement  at  Plymouth — The  Government  at  Plymouth — 
Growth  and  Character  of  the  Colony — Towns  —  Mason's 
Grant  of  New  Hampshire  —  The  New  Puritan  Emigra 
tion —  Eudicott  at  Salem — The  Charter  of  the  Massachu 
setts  Company — The  First  Congregational  Church — Alleged 
"  Intolerance"  of  the  Puritans — Transfer  of  the  Massachu 
setts  Company  to  New  England — John  Winthrop  —  The 
Great  Emigration  to  Massachusetts  —  Sufferings  of  the 
Colony  —  Its  Form  of  Government  —  Congregationalism — 
Roger  Williams  —  Williams  Founds  Providence  —  Vane  — 
Mrs.  Ann  Hutchinson — Winthrop  again  Chosen  Governor 
— Heroic  Spirit  of  the  Colony — Council  of  New  England 
Surrenders  its  Charter — Roger  Williams  and  his  Colony — 
Settlement  of  Rhode  Island  —  The  Settlements  in  New 
Hampshire — Gorges'  Settlement  in  Maine. 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

NEW  ENGLAND  FBOM  THE  PLANTING  OF  CONNECTICUT  IN 
1636  TO  1688, 126 

The  Early  Settlers  in  Connecticut— The  Migration  to  Hart 
ford—The  Government  of  the  Three  Towns— The  Found 
ing  of  New  Haven — Its  Government — The  Fiction  of  the 
"  Blue  Laws'* — Settlement  at  Saybrook — Saybrook  Joined 
to  Connecticut— The  Pequot  War— The  New  England  Con 
federacy — Commission  for  the  Management  of  the  Colo 
nies — Samuel  Gorton — War  of  the  Narragansetts  and  the 
Mohegans  —  Acts  of  the  Confederacy  —  The  Cambridgs 
Synod  —  John  Clarke  —  Maine  and  Massachusetts — The 
Quakers  in  Massachusetts  —  The  Navigation  Law  —  The 
Charter  of  Connecticut— Union  of  New  Haven  and  Con- 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

necticut  Colonies  —  The  Royal  Commission  —  King  Philip's 
War  —  Annulling  of  the  Massachusetts  Charter  —  Royal  Gov 
ernment  in  New  England  —  Aiidros  —  Revolution  in  Massa 
chusetts—Society  in  New  England. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
NEW  YORK  TO  1688,        ........  177 

Hudson's  Discovery  —  Block's  Exploring  Voyage  —  The  "New 
Netherland  "  Company  —  West  India  Company  Chartered  — 
The  Dutch  at  Manhattan  and  Albany  —  Purchase  of  Man 
hattan  Island  —  The  Patroons  —  Van  Twiller  Succeeds 
Minuit—  The  Swedish  Settlement—  Trouble  with  the  Ind 
ians—Peter  Stuyvesant—  Treaty  with  Connecticut—  Attack 
on  the  Swedes  —  Delaware  Purchased  —  Religious  Contests  — 
Demand  for  Popular  Franchise  —  Relations  to  Connecticut 
—  Holland  and  England—  Conquest  of  New  Netherland  hy 
the  English  —  The  New  Government  —  War  between  Eng 
land  and  France—  Lovelace—  New  Netherland  Retaken  by 
the  Dutch—  Restored  to  the  English—  New  York  Described 
by  Andros  —  Dongan  —  Charter  of  Liberties  —  New  York  a 
Royal  Province  —  The  Revolt  of  Leisler. 

CHAPTER  X. 
NEW  JERSEY  TO  1688,     ........  194 

Grant  to  Berkeley  and  Carteret—  Settlement  at  Elizabeth— 
Settlement  at  Newark  —  East  Jersey  —  West  Jersey  Acquired 
by  Penn  and  His  Associates  —  Sale  to  Penn  of  Carteret's 
Rights—  Scottish  Emigration  to  East  Jersey—  Effect  of  the 
Revolution  of  1688. 

CHAPTER  XI. 
PENNSYLVANIA  TO  1688,  ......        :        .199 

Early  Life  of  Penn  —  Grant  to  Him  by  James  II.  —  Penn's 
Charter  —  His  Constitution  —  The  Body  of  Laws  —  Penn's 
Treatment  of  the  Indians—  Emigration  to  Pennsylvania  — 
Religion  in  the  Colony  —  Penn  in  England  —  Disorder  in 
the  Colony  —  Pennsylvania  Described. 


CONTENTS  XV 

PART  II. 

FROM  THE  ENGLISH  REVOLUTION  OF  1688   TO   1756 


CHAPTER  XII. 

PAGE 

THE  EFFECT  ON  THE  COLONIES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  OF 
1688, 207 

Result  of  the  Revolution  of  1688 — King  and  Parliament — 
The  Colonial  Governments — Spirit  of  the  Colonial  Houses 
of  Delegates — Navigation  Laws— French  and  Indian  Wars 
—  French  Explorations  —  French  Claims  to  Louisiana  — 
Movements  in  the  Direction  of  Colonial  Union. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
NEW  ENGLAND  FROM  1688  TO  1756, 216 

Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations — French  and  Indian  At 
tacks —  Unsuccessful  Attempt  on  Canada  —  Massachusetts 
Fails  to  Regain  her  Charter — The  New  Charter  of  Massa 
chusetts—The  Witchcraft  Delusion— The  Government  of 
Phips  —  Bellomont  —  Inroads  of  French  and  Indians  — 
Separation  of  New  Hampshire  from  Massachusetts — Rhode 
Island  under  Bellomont — Dudley — Queen  Anne's  War — 
Rhode  Island  under  Dudley  —  Connecticut  —  Shute  —  Ex 
planatory  Charter  of  Massachusetts — New  Hampshire  and 
Connecticut — The  "  Great  Revival  " — Belcher— Connect 
icut  and  Rhode  Island  —  Burnet  —  Shirley  —  Renewal  of 
Hostilities  with  France  —  Capture  of  Louisburg  —  The 
Albany  Congress — Military  Expeditions — New  Hampshire 
and  Connecticut. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
NEW  YORK  FROM  1688  TO  1756, 241 

Leisler's  Insurrection — The  Assembly  called  by  Sloughter — 
Fletcher's  Ecclesiastical  Measures — Bellomont — Cornbury 
—Trial  of  Mackemie— Hunter— The  '  *  Palatines  "—Burnet 


XVI  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

— Cosby— The  Liberty  of  the  Press— Independent  Spirit  of 
the  Assembly  — "  The  Negro  Plot  "—Clinton's  Struggle  with 
the  Assembly— The  Albany  Convention— Johnson's  Victory 
— Paper  Money — Character  of  the  Middle  States— Society 
in  New  York  — Education — Ruling  Families. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
NEW  JERSEY  FROM  1688  TO  1756, 255 

New  Jersey  after  the  Revolution— New  Jersey  a  Royal  Prov 
ince  —  Cornbury  and  the  Assembly  —  Hunter  —  Burnet  — 
New  Jersey  Separated  from  New  York — The  Elizabethtown 
Claimants — The  Revival  in  New  Jersey — Social  Life. 

CHAPTER   XVI. 
PENNSYLVANIA  AND  DELAWARE  PROM  1688  TO  1756,  .        .  260 

Charges  Against  Penn  —  Disorder  in  Pennsylvania — "The 
Counties "  —  George  Keith  —  The  Proprietary  Displaced  — 
Perm  Regains  his  Province — He  Befriends  Negroes  and 
Indians — New  Charter  of  Privileges— The  Two  Parties- 
Evans— Evans  Recalled — Gookin— The  Assembly  against 
Logan— Death  of  Penn— Administration  of  Keith— Gor 
don— Anti-Quaker  Party— Opposition  to  the  Proprietaries 
— Franklin— Society  in  Pennsylvania— Physicians — Trades 
men— Philadelphia— Intellectual  Life. 

CHAPTER   XVII. 
MARYLAND  FROM  1688  TO  1756, 272 

The  Revolution  in  Maryland— Overthrow  of  the  Proprietary 
Government — Intolerance  in  Maryland— Nicholson— Pro 
prietary  Government  Restored— Maryland  in  1751, 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
VIRGINIA  FROM  1688  TO  1756, 277 

The  Revolution  in  Virginia— The  Governors  and  the  Bur 
gesses—William  and  Mary  College— James  Blair— Governor 


CONTENTS  XV11 


Spotswood— His  Dispute  with  the  Burgesses— His  Journey 
over  the  Blue  Ridge — New  Immigrants — The  Churches — 
Slavery — The  Rich  Planters — Diuwiddie — The  Ohio  Com 
pany —  English  and  French  Claims  —  Dinwiddie  and  the 
Burgesses  —  George  Washington  —  An  Adjutant-General : 
A  Messenger  to  the  French  :  At  Great  Meadows  :  An  Aid 
of  Braddock— Defeat  of  Braddock— The  Retreat— Wash 
ington  at  Winchester — Washington  Visits  Boston. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
THE  CAROLINAS  FROM  1688  TO  1756, 292 

North  Carolina— Conflict  of  Parties— Indian  War— Increase 
of  the  Colony  —  A  Royal  Province  —  Immigrants  —  South 
Carolina — Archdale— Charleston — Indian  War — War  with 
the  Yemassees — Hostility  to  the  Proprietaries — End  of  the 
Proprietary  Rule— Nicholson — The  Governor  and  the  As 
sembly—Indian  Troubles— Revolt  of  Slaves— Trade  and 
Emigration — Glen — Society  in  South  Carolina. 

CHAPTER   XX. 
GEORGIA  FROM  ITS  SETTLEMENT  TO  1756,     ....  303 

Oglethorpe — His  Career — His  Plan  for  a  Colony — Grant  of 
Territory — The  Settlement — Immigrants  from  Salzburg  — 
The  Colony  Reinforced  —  State  of  the  Colony  —  Trials  — 
John  Wesley  —  Charles  Wesley  —  Expedition  against  St. 
Augustine — Spanish  Attack  Repelled — Whitefield  in  Georgia 
— Surrender  of  the  Charter— The  New  Government— Social 
Condition. 

CHAPTER   XXI. 
LITERATURE  IN  THE  COLONIES, 313 

The  Writings  of  John  Smith  —  Sandys  —  Whitaker  —  Early 
New  England  Writers — Winthrop — Mather's  "  Magnalia"— 
Hubbard — Prince — The  New  England  Divines — Their  Ideas 
of  Providence — Absorption  in  Religion  and  Theology — The 
Bay  Psalm-Book—Anna  Bradstreet— "  The  Day  of  Doom  " 
— Franklin  and  Edwards — Legists. 


XV111  CONTENTS 

APPENDIX 

PAGE 

I.  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE, 321 

II.  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE, 325 


INDEX, 337 


LIST  OF  MAPS 

1.  PHYSICAL  MAP  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  .        .      Frontispiece 

2.  ORIGINAL  GRANTS, Page  30 

3.  THE  AMERICAN  COLONIES  IN  1755,    .        .    Endoftlie  wlume 


PHYSICAL  MAP  OP 


Longitude 


West        100 


0    50  "100        200         300 


HE  UNITED  STATES 


ALTITUDES. 
I          |  Seatevel  to  500  feet 
500  to    1,000    "' 
1.000   ••    2,000    " 
2,000  ••    6,000    " 
6,000  "  10,000    " 
10.000  feet  and  over. 


00        500         COO        700 


THE  COLONIAL  ERA 


PAET  I      /;.  •    j  •"{';•;*  j 

FROM  THE  DISCOVERT  OF  AMERICA  TO  THE  ENO 
LISH  REVOLUTION  OF  1688 


CHAPTER  I. 

PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY 

The  Pacific  Coast— The  Atlantic  Coast— The  Appalachian  Ranges — 
The  Forests 

THE  Western  continent  differs  from  the  Eastern  in 
having  a  length  from  north  to  south  far  greater  than 
its  width.  The  isthmus  that  forms  the  connecting  link 
of  its  two  grand  divisions  reaches  down  almost  to  the 
equator.  North  America,  stretching  as  it  does  from  the 
Polar  Sea  to  the  region  of  perpetual  summer,  includes 
all  varieties  of  climate.  It  was  on  the  eastern  shore,  and 
within  the  temperate  latitudes,  that  the  colonies  were 
planted  which  were  destined  to  develop  into  the  thirteen 
original  States  of  the  Federal  Union.  In  America,  in  con 
trast  with  Europe  and  Asia,  the  direction  of  the  moun 
tain  ranges  is  from  north  to  south.  The  complex  moun 
tain  system  on  the  Pacific  side  of  North  America — the 
system  named  the  Cordilleras,  the  continuation  of  the 


2  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

Andes — extends  so  near  to  the  coast  as  to  leave  room  only 
for  a  narrow  seaboard.  Down  the  western  slopes,  so  ab- 
The  Pacific  rQP^  ^s  their  decline,  the  rivers  flow  in  a  swift 

coast.  an(j  tumultuous  current  into  the  ocean.  More 
over,  the  Pacific  coast  is  so  little  indented  south  of 
Puget  Sound  that  it  furnishes  very  few  harbors.  There 
is  one  at  San  Diego  and  another  at  San  Francisco.  Be- 
.'sides  these  two  havens  there  are  left,  within  the  bounds 
of  the  United  States,  only  Puget  Sound  and  the  broad 
estuary,  of  the  Ceiumbia  River — an  estuary  which  it  is 
impossible  to  enter  without  the  aid  of  expert  pilots. 
The  signal  advantage  afforded  to  San  Francisco  by  its 
commodious  harbor  would  avail  of  itself  to  explain  the 
growth  of  that  flourishing  city.  Even  if  the  Pacific  shore 
had  looked  toward  Europe  instead  of  Asia,  its  lack  of 
bays  and  other  inlets,  taken  in  connection  with  the 
nearness  and  height  of  the  adjacent  mountains,  would 
have  presented  great  obstacles  to  colonization.  Oa-the 
The  Atlantic  Atlantic  side  the  natural  features  were  quite 

coast.  different,  and  in  a  high  degree  favorable. 
There  the  distance  of  the  coast  from  Europe  is  only 
half  that  which  parts  California  from.  Asia.  The  Appa 
lachian  ranges  that  stretch  in  broken  masses  from  Maine 
to  Georgia  and  Alabama  are  comparatively  low.  Their 
slopes  are,  moreover,  much  farther  from  the  ocean,  thus 
affording  space  for  a  seaboard  generally  from  one  hun 
dred  to  two  hundred  miles  in  width.  From  these  moun 
tain  ranges,  and  from  the  numerous  plateaus  which  are 
formed  by  them,  the  rivers  find  their  way  to  the  Atlantic, 
or,  on  the  south  and  southwest,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
North  of  the  thirty-fifth  parallel  the  coast  is  broken  by 
numerous  indentations.  Among  the  inlets  are  several 
large  bays,  as  Massachusetts  Bay,  which  is  partly  encir 
cled  by  an  arm  of  Cape  Cod,  Delaware  Bay,  into  which 
pours  the  river  of  the  same  name,  and  the  Chesapeake, 


PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY  3 

which  receives  the  waters  of  the  Susquehanna  and  the 
Potomac.  Along  the  coast,  above  the  thirty-fifth  parallel, 
there  are  many  harbors  where  vessels  can  safely  cast 
anchor  or  load  and  discharge  their  cargoes.  Below  that 
line  the  number  of  convenient  havens  is  small.  "  Scarcely 
any  continent,"  says  Professor  Shaler,  "  offers  such  easy 
ingress  as  does  this  continent  to  those  who  come  to  it 
from  the  Atlantic  side.  The  valleys  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
the  Hudson,  the  Mississippi7~iirar  fashion,  also,  of  the  Sus 
quehanna  and  the  James,  break  through  or  pass  around 
the  low-coast  mountains,  and  afford  free  ways  into  the 
whole  of  the  interior  that  is  attractive  to  European  peo 
ples."  The  break  made  by  the  Hudson  led  up  through 
the  valley  of  Champlain  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  formed 
a  natural  line  of  communication  between  New  York  and 
Canada.  One  might  pass  from  the  Hudson  to  the  north 
west,  up  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  and  thence  into  the 
region  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries.  In  the 
south  there  was  another  pathway  to  the  same  region 
through  the  Cumberland  Gap.  It  was  loDg  before  pio 
neers  of  English  descent  explored  beyond  the  natural 
barriers  of  the  m'ountain  ranges.  In  that  vast  field  of  the 
interior  the  French  were  their  forerunners. 

Of  the  two  parallel  ranges  that  form  the  Appalachian 
system  the  eastern  may  be  traced  from  Eastern  Canada 
to  Alabama.  The  western,  or  Alleghany  range,  The  Appa]a. 
begins  near  Albany  and  has  the  same  terminus  chian  ranges« 
in  the  south.  Between  these  two  ranges,  from  New  Jer 
sey  to  Georgia,  is  a  "  broad,  elevated,  somewhat  moun 
tainous  "  valley,  of  exceeding  fertility.  The  Hudson  cuts 
through  the  ranges,  and  below  the  Hudson  the  inter 
vening  valley  is  reached  from  the  east  by  crossing  the 
South  Mountain  of  Pennsylvania,  the  Blue  Ridge  in  Vir 
ginia,  and  the  Black  Mountain  of  North  Carolina. 

When  the  English  settlers  planted  themselves  on  the 


THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

border  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  the  whole  territory  from  the 
St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from  the  ocean 

to  the  central  plains  beyond  the  Appalachians, 
The  fr-rests.  r 

was  woodland,  except  "frere  and  there  a  small 
patch  of  ground  which  had  been  cleared  by  storm  or 
flood,  or  by  the  "  girdling  "  of  the  trees  by  Indian  hatch 
ets  and  the  burning  of  the  undergrowth.  Wherever  the 
emigrants  went,  they  found  themselves  enclosed  by  the 
sombre,  boundless  forest.  The  trees  included  nearly 
three  hundred  species.  Even  the  trees  which  belonged 
to  genera  that  had  been  familiar  to  the  eyes  of  the  set 
tlers  in  the  Old  World  were  mostly  of  new  species. 


CHAPTEE  n. 

THE    INDIANS 

Their  Languages — The  Peruvians — The  Mexicans — The  Red  Men 
— The  Mound-Builders— The  Indians  Classified— Indian  Traits 
— Their  Manners — Their  Occupations,  Food,  and  Dwellings — 
Tribal  Arrangements— Their  Religion— Their  Moral  Qualities 
— Their  Number. 

THE  Western  continent,  at  the  time  of  its  discovery, 
was  inhabited  by  a  great  number  of  tribes  and  peoples. 
Concerning  their  relationship  among  themselves  we  have 
a  limited  amount  of  knowledge.  On  the  question  of  their 
affinities  with  races  on  the  Eastern  continent,  numerous 
theories  have  been  broached,  but  it  would  be  unsafe  at 
present  to  pronounce  a  confident  judgment.  The  lan 
guages  of  these  tribes  and  peoples  in  both  Their  lan. 
North  and  South  America  were  generally,  &***%**• 
although  not  exclusively,  of  one  essential  type.  Their 
tongues  were  mostly  of  the  polysynthetic  class.  That  is 
to  say,  they  formed  conglomerate  words  by  a  peculiar 
incorporation  of  syllables,  of  such  a  character  that  a 
single  word  might  be  made  to  do  the  work  of  a  sentence. 
In  fact,  the  word  comprised  definitions  of  the  elements 
that  entered  into  it,  and  so  might  be  prolonged  indefi 
nitely.  Even  the  tongue  of  the  Eskimos,  distinct  as  they 
were  in  their  physical  characteristics,  did  not  differ  in 
its  fundamental  structure  from  the  languages  The  Perurl. 
of  most  of  the  other  American  peoples.  Peru 
and  Mexico  were  semi  -  civilized  nations.  Peru  under 
the  sway  of  the  Inoas  had  a  kind  of  theocratic  govern- 


6  THE   COLONIAL   Eli  A 

ment,  the  ruler  being  held  to  be  of  divine  descent,  and 
being  possessed  of  absolute  sovereignty.  The  Peru 
vians  were  acquainted  with  the  art  of  writing.  They 
were  cultivators  of  the  soil,  of  which  every  individual 
possessed  a  portion.  They  had  good  roads,  with  post- 
houses,  were  skilful  builders,  and  expert  potters  and 
workers  in  inetals.  Their  chief  divinity  was  the  Sun. 
Another  people,  the  Mayas  of  Central  America,  in  their 
ruined  cities  left  behind  striking  proofs  of  architectu- 
The  Mexi-  ra^  taste  and  skill.  The  Mexicans  had  a  less 
cans.  despotic  form  of  government  than  the  Peru 
vians.  They  had  invented  a  system  of  picture-writing. 
Except  in  those  mechanical  arts  which  have  been  referred 
to,  they  were  in  advance  of  the  Peruvians.  Their  religion 
was  not  destitute  of  beneficent  elements,  yet  its  ritual  in 
cluded  human  sacrifices.  They  were  fierce  in  the  treat 
ment  of  enemies,  of  whom  theTlascalans,  their  unsubdued 
neighbors,  were  the  most  formidable.  The  Pueblo  race, 
whose  remains  are  found  in  New  Mexico,  in  Arizona,  and 
in  Southern  California,  are  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
Mexican  Aztecs.  A  portion  of  the  Pueblos  built  their 
dwellings  on  high  plateaus  that  were  almost  inaccessible  ; 
others  built  in  the  cliffs  of  the  canons.  Their  houses 
were  of  stone  or  sun-dried  brick,  in  size  huge,  and  made 
to  contain  hundreds  of  inmates,  who  lived  in  a  communal 
way.  The  Pueblos  made  cloth  and  pottery,  but,  on  the 
whole,  they  appear  to  have  been  not  so  far  advanced 
as  the  Aztecs.  The  red  men  have  kept  the 

The  Red  Men.  .      T     n.          „      .  .   ..  .  .. 

name  of  "  Indians,  which  was  given  to  native 
Americans  under  the  idea  that  the  newly  discovered  re 
gions  of  the  West  were  a  part  of  India.  They  are  called 
The  Mound-  "red"'  from  their  bronze  or  cinnamon  color, 
builders.  They  were  preceded  by  the  prehistoric  race 
of  "mound-builders,"  whose  earthworks,  which  are  all 
that  is  left  of  their  forts  and  temples,  are  found  in  the 


THE   INDIANS  7 

valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  of  the  Ohio.  The  re 
mains  of  mechanical  art  that  have  been  dug  out  of  these 
mounds  show  that  their  builders,  whoever  they  were, 
had  made  considerable  progress  on  the  road  to  civiliza 
tion.  It  is  quite  probable  that  they  were  the  ancestors 
of  modern  aboriginal  races,  who  were  their  inferiors  in 
taste  and  skill.  The  Indians  with  whom  the  English 
settlers  of  North  America  were  brought  into  The  i^ans 
contact  are  classified  under  several  grand  di-  classified, 
visions,  or  families  of  tribes.  The  principal  of  these  was 
the  great  Algonkin  family.  It  spread  from  Hudson's  Bay 
and  the  jb!s"Kinros"~  of  Labrador  as  far  south  as  North 
Carolina,  and  from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  and  the 
Atlantic  west  to  the  Mississippi.  Their  language  "  was 
the  mother-tongue  of  those  who  greeted  the  colonists  of 
Raleigh  at  Roanoke,  of  those  who  welcomed  the  Pilgrims 
to  Plymouth."  But  the  territory  of  the  Algonkins  en 
closed,  or  nearly  enclosed,  within  itself,  the  lands  of  an 
alien  group,  that  of  the  Iroquois,  comprising  the  Five 
Nations,  which  became  the  >3ix  Nations "  when  their 
kinsmen,  the  Tuscaroras,  joined  them  in  1713.  They 
dwelt  on  the  south  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario  and  of  the 
St.Jjawrence.  To  them  the  name  of  Iroquois  is  generally 
applied  ;  but  the  Hi^rona.  to  the  north  of  them,  were  a 
branch  of  the  same  ethnical  division.  SouthjDf  the  Ten 
nessee  River,  and  spreading  to  the  Mississippi  and  to  the 
GuIfTwere  the  tribes  of  the  Muskogee  family,  of  whom  the 
Cree.ks.were  the  most  powerful.  To  this  group  belonged, 
also,  the  Cherokees,  Chickasaws,  Choctaws,  and  Seminoles. 
We  have  no  knowledge  of  the  Indians  prior  to  their 
intercourse  with  the  whites.  In  judging  of  them  we 
must  take  into  account  modifications  of  char 
acter  and  manners  which  resulted  from  such 
intercourse.  In  general  their  traits  were  such  as  are 
found  usually  in  savage  races  of  the  more  vigorous 


THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

type.  Among  themselves,  while  their  main  characteris 
tics  were  the  same  everywhere,  there  were  not  wanting 
marked  tribal  peculiarities.  For  example,  some  tribes 
were  not  so  resentful  and  implacable  as  others,  and  were 
less  formidable  as  enemies.  The  remarks  which  follow, 
although  in  general  applicable  to  all,  are  especially  de 
scriptive  of  the  tribes  with  which  the  Northern  Colonies, 
whose  contests  with  the  Indians  were  the  most  severe  and 
prolonged,  came  into  contact. 

In  stature  the  Indians  were  quite  up  to  the  ordinary 
height,  and  were  well  formed.  They  had  high  cheek 
bones  ;  long,  coarse,  jet-black  hair ;  scant  beard,  and  small 
eyes.  They  clothed  themselves  in  the  skins  of  wild  ani 
mals.  In  summer  the  men  wrent  almost  naked,  wearing 
only  an  apron  of  deer-skin.  The  feet  were  protected  by 
moccasins  made  of  the  same  material,  or  of  the  hide  of 
the  moose.  They  tattooed  themselves,  and  were  fond  of 
other  sorts  of  barbaric  decoration,  taking  special  delight 
in  feathers  and  gay  colors.  They  were  alert,  swift  of 
foot,  and  capable  of  energetic  action,  which  w7as  followed, 
however,  by  lassitude.  They  showed  no  aptitude  for  per 
severing  industry,  and  wilted  down  under  any  employ- 
Their  man-  ment  that  required  long-continued  exertion, 
nere.  They  were  reserved,  indisposed  to  smile  or  to 
weep,  and  bore  pEysical  suffering,  however  intense  and 
protracted,  with  stoical  indifference.  In  negotiations  of 
importance  they  exhibited  a  certain  grave  courtesy.  But 
among  JtonsGlves  their  sedate  manner  often  gave  place 
to  a  lo_w_joJlity.  They  entered  into  their  festivities  with 
glee.  Dancing  was  a  favorite  pastime.  Among  their 
Their  occn-  cus^omary  sports  were  various  games,  espe- 
pations.  food,  cially  foot-ball  and  quoits.  They  were  adepts 

and      dwell-  J  ,  ' J  f 

ings.  m  whatever  pertains  to  wood-craft.    In  making 

their  light  canoes,  their  bows,  their  hatchets  of  stone,  and 
their  pipes,  and  in  dressing  skins  for  their  clothing,  they 


THE  INDIANS  9 

evinced  no  small  degree  of  skill.  They  were  good  marks 
men.  They  had  no  flocks  or  herds,  and  no  domestic  ani 
mals  except  a  dog  of  a  wolfish  breed  which  sometimes 
attended  them.  The  women  tilled  the  soil,  while  the 
men  were  engaged  in  war,  or  in  hunting  and  fishing. 
They  raised  nothing  but  maize,  which  they  knew  well  how 
to  cultivate,  and  a  few  other  vegetables.  Fish,  where  fish 
could  be  obtained,  were  a  great  article  of  food  among 
them.  Their  relish  for  oysters  is  proved  by  the  deep 
beds  of  oyster-shells  which  were  found  by  the  white  set 
tlers  on  the  southern  shores  of  Connecticut.  The  money 
of  the  Indians  was  wampum — pieces  of  sea-shell,  labori 
ously  shaped  in  a  particular  form  and  strung  on  a  thread. 
Their  habitations,  or  wigwams,  were  circular  or  oblong 
in  shape.  They  were  constructed  of  branches  of  trees 
stuck  in  the  ground,  and  bending  toward  the  centre,  a 
hole  being  left  at  the  top  for  the  smoke  to  escape.  They 
were  sometimes  lined  with  mats  and  covered  with  the 
barks  of  trees,  or  daubed  with  mud.  The  Indians  gener 
ally  had  but  one  wife,  but  this  was  the  effect  of  no  law, 
and  there  was  no  restraint  if  they  chose  to  discard  their 
wives.  Touching  examples  are  on  record  of  strong  pa 
rental  and  filial  affection  among  them  ;  but  this  cannot 
be  said  to  have  been  a  pervading  characteris-  Tribal  ar_ 
tic.  The  Indians  dwelt  in  villages.  Each  rangements. 
tribe  had  its  chiefT^whose^office  descended,  but  by  no 
means  invariably,  in  his  family.  Within  the  tribe  or 
confederacy  there  existed  that  sort  of  clanship  which  is 
found  so  frequently  among  savage  races,  and  bears  the 
name  of  totemism.  Each  clan  had  its  own  totem — the 
wolf,  the  tortoise,  or  whatever  it  might  be,  and  was  dis 
tinguished  by  a  corresponding  symbol.  The  chief  of  the 
tribe,  or  sachem,  might  not  of  necessity  be  the  leader  in 
war.  Subordinate  sachems,  or  "  sagamores,"  were  con 
sulted  in  grave  emergencies.  But  the  organization  of  the 


10  THE    COLONIAL    ERA 

natives  was  loose.  Except  on  urgent  occasions,  or  under 
the  inspiration  of  some  remarkable  warrior,  it  was  hard 
for  them  to  combine  in  large  n umbel's.  In  popular  as 
semblies  any  who  were  respected  or  gifted  in  speech 
might  declare  their  counsel.  The  Indian  harangues  were 
highly  ornate,  being  stored  with  metaphors  drawn  from 
natural  objects.  The  Indian  tongues  lack  words  to  de 
note  the  things  of  the  spirit.  The  figurative  style  of  their 
speakers,  which  is  occasionally  somewhat  impressive,  part 
ly  accounts  for  the  exaggerated  ideas  of  the  intellectual 
capacity  of  the  red  men  which  have  been  diffused  by  poets 
Their  reiig-  an^  romance-writers.  Their  religious  notions 
were  like  those  of  many  savage  peoples  in  other 
parts  of  the  world.  They  clothed  the  various  objects  and 
activities  of  nature  with  a  distinct  personal  life.  "They 
had  their  fetiches  and  incantations.  But  it  is  quite 
doubtful  whether,  independently  of  all  instruction,  they 
arrived  at  any  clear  conception  of  one  "  Great  ^Spirit." 
Their  "  medicine-men "  were  conjurers.  A  religious  signif 
icance  was  attached  to  their  dances.  But  the  Indians  had 
no  temples,  no  rites  of  worship,  no  priesthood.  The  vices 
Their  moral  ^na^  are  mos^  often  laid  to  the  charge  of  the 
qualities.  Indians  are  treachery  and  cruelty.  In  com 
mon  with  uncivilized  peoples  generally,  it  was  one  of 
their  "ruling  ideas"  that  the  wrongs  done  by  an  individ 
ual  were  to  be  .avenged  on  the  clan  or  racer~~There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  Indians  were  sly,  suspicious,  stealthy  in 
their  ways  of  compassing  their  ends,  and  adepts  in  dis 
simulation.  These  tendencies  were  naturally  called  into 
activity  in  their  dealings  with  the  whites.  There  are  not 
wanting  among  them  in  our  early  history  striking  in 
stances  of  fidelity  to  promises,  and  steadfast  Io}-alt3r  in 
friendship.  Their  worst  trait  was  the  spirit^  of  revenge, 
and  the  merciless  cruelty  which  made  them  delight  in  in 
discriminate  slaughter,  and  in  inflicting  tortures  on  their 


THE    INDIANS  11 

enemies  and  captives.  To  count  up  as  many  scalps  as 
possible  was  the  ambition  of  the  Indian  youth.  This 
kind  of  success  was  the  highest  title  to  honor. 

There  has  been  an  exaggerated  impression  of  the  num 
ber  of  savages  at  the  time  when  our  country  began  to 
be  settled.  How  many  there  were  it  is  im-  Their^num- 
possible  to  estimate  with  any  approach  to  ex 
actness.  Bancroft  judges  that  the  total  number  on  the 
whole  area  east  of  the  Mississippi,  now  covered  by  the 
United  States,  was  not  far  from  one  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand. 


CHAPTER  m. 

DISCOVERIES   AND  SETTLEMENTS  PRIOR  TO  THE   FIRST 
PERMANENT   ENGLISH   COLONY 

The  Renaissance — New  Inventions— Maritime  Enterprise— The  First 
Voyage  of  Columbus — "  The  Indies  "  Allotted  to  Spain  and  Por 
tugal — Columbus  Discovers  the  Mainland — Voyages  of  the 
Cabots — Spanish  Voyagers — Florida  Discovered  —  The  Missis 
sippi  Discovered — De  Soto — Spanish  Settlers  in  Florida — Rise 
of  New  France — Chaniplain  Founds  Quebec— English  Voyages 
of  Exploration — Gilbert  and  Raleigh — Gosnold. 

THE  fifteenth  century  was  the  age  of  the  Renaissance, 
the  reawakening  of  learning  ami  art  from  a  long  slum 
ber.  The  media) val  era  in  its  distinctive  character  was 
giving  place  to  a  new  order  of  things.  Compact  monar 
chies  were  growing  up  on  the  ruins  of  feudalism.  Eu 
rope  was  astir  with  a  fresh  intellectual  life.  New  inven- 
New  inven-  ^ons  were  appearing  to  accelerate  the  advance 

tions.  of  civilization.  In  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  gunpo \yder  was  brought  into  use.  Fire-arms 
were  now  to  displace,  to  a  large  extent,  the  old  weapons 
of  war.  About  the  same  time,  printing  by  movable 
typesrwas  first  devised,  an  art  that  spread  witH^aarvenbus 
rapidity.  The  mariner's  compass,  which  in  China  had 
long  served  the  purpose  of  guiding  land-carriages,  began 
to  be  used  by  Europeans  on  the  sea.  Vessels  were  no  more 
obliged  to  cling  to  the  coast,  but  could  venture  out  into 
the  mid-ocean.  These  inventions  were  conspicuous  signs 
and  effects  of  that  spontaneous  outburst  of  intelligence 
and  energy  which  made  this  epoch  a  turning-point  in 


DISCOVERIES    AND    SETTLEMENTS  13 

history.  A  great  stimulus  was  given  to  maritime  explo 
ration  by  Prince  Henry  of  Portugal— Henry  the  Navi 
gator,  as  he  was  styled.  At  the  outset  of  his  ^  ^ 
Career  he  was  a  gallant  soldier,  but  he  turned  Navigator. 
from  brilliant  deeds  of  arms  to  the  eager  study 
of  astronomy  and  geography.  He  was  bent  on  finding 
a  path  by  the  sea  to  Arabia  and  the  regions  of  the  farther 
east.  The  discoveries  made  under  his  auspices  on  the 
western  coast  of  Africa  increased  the  interest  that  was 
felt  in  maritime  enterprises.  In  1466,  the  Azores  were 
occupied  by  Portugal.  The  Canaries  were  acquired  and 
subdued  by  Spain.  The  strongest  desire  was  roused  to 
discover  an  ocean  path  to  the  countries  of  Eastern  Asia. 
This  was  the  goal  which  ambitious  seamen  set  before 
them.  It  was  while  in  pursuit  of  this  object  that  Chris 
topher  Columbus  made  his  great  discovery.  The  Norse 
The  Norse  sagas  relate  that  centuries  before 
his  time,  as  early  as  the  year^lOOO,  Scandinavian  explor 
ers,  who  had  previously  occupied  places  on  the  western 
shore  of  Greenland,  planted  a  colony  in  "Vinland," 
which  has  beeir  ^supposed  by  many  to  be  near  the  coast 
of  New  England.  But  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  such  a 
settlement  for  any  considerable  time  lacks  verification. 
Where  it  was  precisely  is  uncertain,  and  it  soon  came  to 
naught.  That  different  landings  on  the  American  shore 
were  made  by  hardy  seamen  from  Greenland  is  very 
probable.  The  opinion  that  the  earth  is  round  had 
been  held  by  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  other  ancient  writers. 
It  was  revived  in  the  middle  ages  by  Averroes,  a  Spanish- 
Arabian  philosopher,  was  adopted  in  the  time  of  Co 
lumbus  by  inquisitive  men  of  science,  and  was  em 
braced  by  Columbus  himself.  He  felt  sure  Columbna 
that  the  eastern  coasts  of  Asia  could  be  reached 
by  sailing  westward.  Ten  years,  full  of  struggle  and 
disappointment,  elapsed  before  he  embarked  from  Palos 


14  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

in  the  three  little  ships,  two  of  which  were  only  half- 
decked,  that  were  furnished  him  largely  by  the  bounty 
of  Isabella,  the  Queen  of  Castile.  Guided  by  a  sea-chart 
which  Toscanelli,  a  Florentine  astronomer,  had  sent  to 
him,  he  passed  the  Canaries  and  would  have  reached  the 
coast  of  Florida  or  Virginia  had  he  not  been  persuaded  by 
one  of  his  companions,  Piuzon,  to  turn  to  the  southwest, 
the  direction  which  a  flock  of  pigeons  was  observed  to 
take.  Just  as  a  mutinous  spirit  was  ready  to  break  out 
among  his  discouraged  sailors,  he  reached  the  island 
He  discovers  °^  Guanahani,  in  the  Bahamas.  But  for  the 
San  Salvador.  cnange  in  fog  Course,the  descendants  of  Spanish 
Roman  Catholics,  instead  of  English  Protestants,  might 
now  possess  our  Atlantic  seaboard.  When  Columbus  car 
ried  home  the  report  of  his  discoveries,  it  seemed  likely 
that  difficulties  would  spring  up  between  Spain  and  Portu 
gal.  It  was  considered  that  to  the  popes  belonged  the  right 
to  dispose  of  all  lands  inhabited  by  the  heathen.  About 
a  half  century  before,  Nicholas  V.  had  granted 

1432-1454.  ,1-0  j/u    • 

to  the  Portuguese  their  conquests  on  the  west 
coast  of  Africa,  but  in  terms  so  broad  and  general  that 
they  were  inclined  to  dispute  the  claim  of  the  Spanish 
sovereigns  to  any  portion  of  what  was  called  "  the  Indies." 
To  make  the  latter  secure  in  their  possessions,  and  to  pre 
vent  a  conflict  between  the  two  rival  pioneers  on  the  sea, 
Bulls  of  Alex-  Pope  Alexander  VI.,  on  May  3-4,  1493,  issued 
ander  vi.  ^wo  fo^is  to  determine  their  respective  rights. 
The  second  denned  in  particular  what  was  bestowed  in 
the  first.  It  gave  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  their  heirs 
and  successors,  all  lands  that  might  be  discovered  west 
and  south  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  North  to  the  South 
Pole,  at  the"  distance  of  one  hundred  leagues  west  of  the 
Azores  and  Cape  Verd  Islands.  This  gift  was  made  as 
a  reward  of  their  Christian  zeal,  which,  it  was  said,  had 
been  lately  manifested  in  the  conquest  of  Granada.  In 


DISCOVERIES    AND    SETTLEMENTS  15 

June,  1494,  by  a  convention  at  Tordesillas,  it  was  settled 
that  the  imaginary  line  should  run  three  hundred  and 
seventy  leagues  west  of  the  Cape  Verd  Islands.  This 
gave  the  most  of  Brazil  to  the  Portuguese.  The  intent 
was  that  Portugal  should  prosecute  her  voyages  of  dis 
covery  by  the  eastward  path,  and  Spain  by  the  westward. 
In  1498  a  Portuguese  navigator,  Vasco  da  Da  Gama 
Gama,  succeeded  in  finding  a  way  to  India  by  cap^of  Good 
sea.  He  doubled  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  Hope. 
on  May  20th  sailed  into  the  harbor  of  Calicut.  By  this 
achievement  the  course  of  European  commerce  with  the 
East  was  changed.  The  routes  overland  and  through 
the  Mediterranean  to  Venice  and  other  cities  were  grad 
ually  forsaken.  It  was  still  left,  however,  to  explore  for 
other  ways,  perhaps  shorter,  to  the  same  regions. 

In  the  same  year  that  the  Portuguese  made  their  mem 
orable  discovery,  Columbus,  on  his  third  voyage,  entered 
the  mouth  of  the  "Orinoco,  and  on  August  Coltimbu8 
1st  saw  the  mainland  oF  the  southern  divis-  discovers  the 
ion  of  the  Western  continent.  He  died,  how-  south  Amer- 
ever,  as  he  had  lived,  in  the  unquestioning 
belief  that  the  territories  which  he  had  found  per 
tained  to  the  land  that  was  called  by  the  ancients  India. 
A  designation  given  to  Brazil,  owing  to  its 

...  ,  ; —       T,  .          P  Vespuccius. 

discovery  by  Americu^-\espuccius  in  1501, 
resulted  in  the  attaching  of  his  name  to  the  Continent. 
More  than  a  year  before  Columbus  beheld  the  South 
American  coast  the  mainland  of  North  America  was  seen 
by  the  leader  of  an  English  exploring  expedi-  Voyape  of  the 
tion.  England  had  no  disposition  to  acquiesce  Caboto. 
in  the  bestowal  of  all  territories  west  of  the  Atlantic  upon 
Spain.  Without  interfering  with  Spanish  discoveries, 
there  was  room  for  seeking  a  passage  to  India  on  the 
northwest.  In  1496  Henry  Vn._granted  to  John  Cabot, 
a  Venetian,  resident  in  "Bristol,  and  to  EfiTIJiree  sons,  a 


16  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

patent,  by  which  they  were  authorized  to  seek  out,  sub 
due,  and  occupy,  as  vassals  of  the  king,  any  regions 
which  had  been  hitherto  "  unknown  to  all  Christians." 
John  Cabot,  with  one  small  vessel,  set  sail  in  1497,  and 
reached  the  coast  of  Labrador,  if  not  a] so  Newfoundland 
and  Nova  Scotia.  There  is  some  reason  for  the  opinion 
that  his  son,  Sebastian,  accompanied  him  in  this  voyage. 
A  second  patent  was  granted  to  John  Cabot  on  February 
3,  1498,  but  he  did  not  accompany  his  son  in  the  fleet  of 
six  vessels  which  left  Bristol  in  the  following  May.  This 
is  the  last  that  we  hear  of  the  senior  Cabot.  He  probably 
died  about  the  time  that  the  expedition  started.  He  be 
lieved  that  by  sailing  southward  from  the  places  which  he 
had  discovered  he  could  find  the  land  of  jewels  and  spices. 
But  the  expedition  of  the  younger  Cabot  attempted  to 
reach  Cathay  by  the  northwest  passage.  Being  forced  by 
the  blocks  of  ice  and  the  cold  to  turn  his  prows  in  a 
southerly  direction,  he  sailed  along  the  coast  as  far  as  the 
Chesapeake,  landing  at  different  places,  always,  however, 
in  quest  of  a  way  by  water  to  the  Indies. 

In  1501  Gaspar  Cortereal,  a  seaman  in  the  service  of 

Manouel,  King  of  Portugal,  explored  the  coast  of  North 

America  for  six  or  seven  hundred  miles  south- 

Gaspargecoi-  ward  from  the  mouth   of  the   St.   Lawrence. 

His  ships  carried  back  to  Portugal  more  than 

fifty  Indians,  who  were  sold  into  slavery. 

The  spirit  of  chivalnr,  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the 
Catholic  religion,  and  greed  of  gold  conspired  to  prompt 
the  Spanish  to  embark  in  schemes  of  conquest  and  set 
tlement  in  the  New  World. 

In    :T5I3   an   old   soldier,  Ponce  do  Leon,  left    Porto 

Rico  with  three  ships  and  discovered  the  coast  of  Florida. 

He  failed  afterwards  in  an   attempt  tcTcolo- 

Leonndlpcov-  nize   the  territory  which  he  had   obtained  a 

lta>     commission  to  govern. 


DISCOVERIES    AND    SETTLEMENTS  17 

On  September  25,  1513,  Balboa,  a  daring  discoverer, 
at  the  head  of  an  expedititm--which  had  left  Darien, 
from  the  summit  of  the  range  of  mountains 
on  the  isthmus,  looked  down  on  the  Pacific. 
Descending  to  the  shore,  he  took  formal  pos- 
session  of  the  ocean  in  the  name  of  his  sovereign. 

In  1521  an  expedition  sent  out  by  Yasquez  de  A.yllon 
from  St.  Domingo,  landed  on  the  coast  of  South  Carolina, 
which  was  called  Chicora.     The  captain  sailed  yasquez    at 
off   treacherously   with   a   throng   of    natives       Chicora. 
whom  he  had  enticed  on  board  his  ships. 

It  was  in  1519  that  Cortez  departed  from  Cuba  on  his 
memorable  expedition,  and  within  two  years  he  conquered 
Mexico.  In  1526,  Vasquez  came  in  person 
wtttraTcommission  to  subdue  and  govern  Chi 
cora  ;  but  after  having  wasted  his  fortune,  besides  losing 
many  of  his  men,  he  failed  in  his  attempt.  Gomez  was 
sent  out  by  Charles  V.,  1524,  to  search  for  a  northern 
passage  to  Cathay.  Having  touched  at  different  points 
along  the  coast  as  far  north  as  Newfoundland,  he  went 
bask  to  Spain  with  a  cargo  of  furs  and  of  Indians  for  the 
slave-market. 

In  1519,  Pineda,  commanding  four  ships,  with  pilots  on 
board,  explored  the  northern  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
to  a  point  beyond  the  Rio  Grande.    The  outlet 
of  the  Mississippi  was  marked  by  the  pilots  on 
the  maps  which  they  drew. 

Another  effort  to  colonize  Florida  was  made  in  1528 
by  Pamfilo  de  Narvaez.  His  followers  were  from  the 
higher  class,  and  some  of  them  the  sons  of 

"\arvuez 

nobles.  He  landed  at  Tampa  Bay,  and  took 
possession  anew  of  Florida  in  the  name  of  his  sovereign. 
Eager,  like  so  many  others,  to  find  the  precious  metals, 
and  deceived  by  the  natives,  who  were  glad  to  be  freed 
from  his  presence,  he  led  his  companions  into  the  in- 
2 


18  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

terior,  where  they  travelled  up  and  down,  undergoing 
infinite  labor  and  suffering,  struggling  through  miry 
swamps  and  thick  forests,  until  they  were  forced  to  turn 
back  to  the  coast.  There,  as  they  had  parted  from  their 
vessels,  they  had  to  construct  boats,  on  which  they  man 
aged  to  reach  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  Four  sur- 
Cabeza  de  vivors,  one  of  whom  was  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  the 
Vaca.  treasurer,  who  was  next  in  command  to  Nar- 
vaez,  at  last  landed  somewhere  on  the  coast  of  Texas. 
All  that  they  had  suffered  up  to  this  time  was  but  the 
beginning  of  their  hardships.  Directing  their  course 
inland,  they  wandered  for  eight  long  years.  They  lived 
much  with  the  Indians,  but  worked  their  way  across 
Texas  and  through  an  extensive  region  which  cannot 
now  with  certainty  be  identified,  to  Culiacan,  on  the  Gulf 
of  California,  where  they  arrived  in  May,  1536.  There 
they  found  countrymen,  and  were  escorted  with  honor  to 
the  city  of  Mexico. 

For  a  long  time  reports  were  rife  among  the  Span 
ish  conquerors  of  Mexico  that  far  to  the  north  lay  cities 
The  search  abounding  in  wealth.  The  natives  related  that 
for  ciboia.  a  few  nund.re(j  miles  north  of  the  capital  there 
were  seven  such  great  and  wealthy  cities.  A  succession 
of  attempts  were  made  to  find  Ciboia,  the  name  attached 
to  the  place  where  the  untold  riches  lay.  In  1539,  a 
messenger  despatched  by  Coronado,  Governor  of  New 
Galicia,  came  back  with  the  story  that  he  had  seen 
Ciboia,  and  found  it  a  more  splendid  city  than  Mexico. 
Coronado  organized  an  expedition,  consisting  of  three 
hundred  Spaniards,  some  of  them  mounted,  and  all  of 
them  well  equipped.  He  penetrated  to  the  seven  cities, 
but  discovered  them  to  be  the  stone-built  towers  of  the 
Pueblo  Indians.  The  tales  of  their  wealth  turned  out  to 
be  fabulous.  But  Coronado,  moving  toward  the  north 
east,  prosecuted  his  explorations  for  three  years  longer. 


DISCOVERIES   AXD   SETTLEMENTS  19 

He  found  no  opulent  cities,  but  he  "  portrayed  the  coun 
try  north  of  Sonora,  from  what  is  now  Kansas  on  the  one 
side,  to  the  chasm  of  the  Colorado  on  the  other."  In 
1542,  he  returned  to  Mexico. 

Ferdinand  De  Soto  was  a  Spaniard,  poor,  but  of  good 
birth,  who  rendered:  much  effective  aid  to  Pizarro  in  the 
conquest  of  Peru,  and  carried  a  fortune  back 

De  Soto 

with  him  to  Spain.  Appointed  by  Charles  V. 
Governor  of  Florida,  a  name  attached  by  the  Spaniards 
to  the  whole  region  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Missis 
sippi,  he  landed,  in  May,  1539,  with  his  enthusiastic  band 
of  six  hundred  men,  at  Espiritu  Santo  Bay.  It  was  the 
strongest  and-  best  furnished  of  all  the  exploring  expedi 
tions  that  Spain  had  sent  out.  It  shared,  however,  the 
coTSffirm  fate.  ~  After  long  and  miserable  wanderings  in 
the  regions  north  of  the  Gulf,  in  quest  of  another  Peru, 
or  of  mineral  treasures  which  their  deceitful  Indian 
guides  constantly  promised  that  they  should  find,  early 
in  1541  they  reached  the  Mississippi.  Ascending  that 
river  on  the  west  side,  they  at  length  bent  their  course 
toward  the  northwest.  Soto  displayed  the  greatest  for 
titude  and  perseverance,  but  he  treated  the  natives  with 
atrocious  cruelty.  Baffled  and  nearly  worn  out,  the  par 
ty  followed  the  Washita  down  to  its  junction  with  the 
great  river.  Here,  on  May  21,  1542,  Soto  died  and  was 
buried  beneath  its  waters.  His  men,  resolved  to  make 
their  way  to  Mexico,  first  attempted  to  do  so  by  land, 
but  had  to  come  back  to  the  Mississippi  and  slowly  to 
construct  frail  barks,  in  which  the  survivors  of  the  party 
descended  to  its  mouth,  and  proceeded  along  the  coast 
until  they  reached  Panuco. 

Up  to  this  time  the  Spaniards  had  gained  no  perma 
nent  foothold  in  America  north  of  the  Gulf  and  beyond 
the  limits  of  their  conquests  in  Mexico.  They  had  shown 
an  astonishing  bravery  and  endurance,  and  had  wasted 


20  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

many  lives.  But  the  ruling  motive  in  their  expeditions 
had  been  the  passion  for  gold  and  plunder.  Even  at  the 
close  of  the  next  century  the  only  Spanish  settlement 
within  the  bounds  designated  above  was  St.  Augustine. 

The  French  very  early  made  themselves  acquainted 
with  the  fisheries  of  Newfoundland.  It  was  their  fisher- 
Verrazano's  men  an(^  sailors  who  gave  its  name  to  Cape 
voyage.  Breton.  Iii  1524,  John  Verrazano,  who  was  a 
Florentine  by  birth,  but,  in  the  service  of  Francis  I., 
distinguished  himself  by  capturing  treasure-ships  of 
Spain,  made  a  voyage  to  America  to  look  for  a  way  to 
Cathay.  He  sailed  up  the  coast,  stopping  at  different 
points,  from  Cape  Fear,  in  North  Carolina,  to  Newfound 
land.  In  1534,  Jacques  Cartier,  a  Breton  sailor, 
left  the  port  of  St.  Malo  for  the  coast  of  Lab 
rador.  He  entered  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs,  and  also  the 
estuary  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  without  being  aware  of  its 
relation  to  the  river.  He  did  not  give  up  the  search  for 
a  way  to  the  Indies.  In  1535,  he  returned  to  the  same 
coast,  and  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence  as  far  as  Hochelaga, 
the  site  of  Montreal,  stopping  on  his  way  at  the  island 
afterward  named  Orleans.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  he  was  the  first  to  give  to  the  whole  region  the  name 
of  New  France.  Subsequently  Francis  I.  associated  with 
Cartier  a  nobleman,  the  Lord  of  Roberval,  whom  he  made 
Governor  of  New  France,  Cartier  being  Captain-General, 
subordinate  to  him.  Cartier  was  the  first  to  sail.  He 
left  France  in  May,  1541.  He  built  a  fort  not  far  from 
Quebec,  and  visited  Hochelaga.  About  the  time  that 
Roberval  arrived  with  reinforcements,  Cartier  left  for 
France,  carrying  wdth  him  quartz  crystals,  which  he  mis 
took  for  diamonds.  The  two  leaders  failed  to  act  in 
concert,  and  nothing  substantial  was  accomplished. 
Roberval's  effort  to  plant  a  colony  on  the  St.  Lawrence 
failed. 


DISCOVERIES   AND   SETTLEMENTS  21 

Among  the  French  the  Huguenots  were  the  first  to 
attempt  to  found  colonies  within  the  present  limits  of 
the  United  States.  Under  the  patronage  of  the  Ribaut  in 
famous  Protestant  leader,  Coligni,  Jean  Kibaut  Carolina, 
crossed  the  ocean  with  two  ships.  He  discovered  the  St. 
John's  River,  in  Florida,  which  he  called  the  May,  and  sail 
ing  northward  he  entered,  in  1562,  an  inlet  which  he 
named  Port  Royal  There,  on  an  island,  he  built  Fort 
Carolina,  so  named  for  Charles  IX.,  the  king  of  France. 
The  territory  adjacent  subsequently  received  the  same  de 
signation.  The  few  colonists  whom  he  left  abandoned  the 
place,  and  when  on  their  way  home  in  a  bark  which  they 
had  themselves  built,  were  picked  up  by  an  English 
ship.  Two  years  later  Laudonniere,  who  had  Laudonn^re 
been  a  companion  of  Ribaut,  brought  over  inFlonda- 
another  colony  to  the  May  River,  where  a  fort  was  built 
which  was  also  named  Carolina.  When  their  store  of 
food  was  consumed,  the  colonists  were  relieved  by  Sir 
John  Hawkins,  an  English  captain,  explorer,  and  slave- 
trader.  Just  then,  as  they  were  about  to  return  to 
France,  Ribaut  arrived  with  a  reinforcement  of  colonists 
and  supplies  for  the  settlement.  The  Spaniards  were  not 
disposed  to  tolerate  the  intrusion  into  Florida  of  a  com 
pany  of  French  heretics.  Philip  H.  committed  the  work 
of  extirpating  them  to  a  fit  instrument,  Melendez  de 
Aviles.  On  September  1,  1564,  Melendez  entered  a  harbor 
which  he  named  St.  Augustine.  Having  discovered  the 
situation  of  the  French  fort,  he  attacked  it  by  land  and 
put  the  whole  garrison  to  the  sword,  "  not."  he  said,  "  as 
Frenchmen,  but  as  Lutherans."  Two  years 
after,  Dominic  de  Gourges,  a  French  soldier,  De  Gourges- 
anxious  to  avenge  this  barbarous  act,  with  three  ships 
sailed  to  Florida,  captured  two  of  the  Spanish  forts  which 
had  been  constructed  by  the  followers  of  Melendez,  and 
not  being  able  to  take  home  his  prisoners,  hanged  them 


22  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

upon  trees,  doing  it,  he  said  in  the  inscription  over  them, 
"  not  as  unto  Spaniards  or  mariners,  but  as  unto  trait- 
spain  ho'.ds  ors>  robbers,  and  murderers."  St.  Augustine, 
st.  Augustine,  the  oldest  town  in  the  United  States,  east  of 
the  Mississippi,  was  left  in  the  hands  of  Spain. 

France  would  have  taken  a  much  more  active  part  in 
colonization  had  it  not  been  for  the  turmoil  of  the  civil 
wars  that  lasted  from  about  1560  until  near  the  close  of 
the  century.  In  1594,  the  terrible  struggle  ended  in  the 
accession  of  Henry  IV.,  and,  in  1598,  the  edict  of  Nantes 
secured  freedom  of  worship  for  his  Protestant  subjects. 
There  was  a  revival  of  commerce,  and  the  fur-trade,  which 
had  gradually  sprung  up,  created  an  increasing  interest 
in  the  northern  parts  of  America.  In  1598,  the  Marquis 
The  rise  of  ^e  *a  Roche,  a  nobleman  of  Brittany,  received  a 
New  France,  commission  to  conquer  Canada.  But  the  forty 
men  whom  he  left  on  the  Isle  of  Sable,  near  Nova  Scotia, 
were  convicts  taken  from  the  jails.  For  a  long  time  it 
was  imagined,  not  in  France  alone,  but  generally  in 
Europe,  that  people  who  were  good  for  nothing  else  were 
fit  to  become  colonists.  Criminals,  idlers,  and  vaga 
bonds  were  despatched  to  the  American  coast  to  found 
social  communities.  All  but  twelve  of  de  la  Roche's  men 
perished  in  their  miserable  abode.  These  twelve  had  the 
good  fortune  to  get  back  to  France.  In  1603, 

DeMonts.         JL    ,,  „   ,    .    .    ,  »  ,  .  , 

De  Monts,  a  Calvmist,  a  man  of  high  character, 
was  appointed  Governor  of  Acadia,  with  authority  over  all 
inhabitants  as  far  south  as  the  latitude  of  Philadelphia. 
After  cruising  along  the  coast  as  far  as  Cape  Cod,  he 
finally  placed  his  colony  at  Port  Royal — afterwards  named 
by  the  English  Annapolis — where  there  were  already 
some  French  settlers.  After  two  years  De  Monts  lost 
his  monopoly  of  the  fur-trade,  and  his  colonists  returned 
to  France.  The  settlement  was  renewed  by  Poutrincourt. 
It  was  almost,  but  not  wholly,  extinguished  by  Argall,  the 


DISCOVERIES   AND   SETTLEMENTS  23 

leader  of  two  expeditions  from  Virginia  to  break  up  the 
French  colonies.  In  1611,  Jesuit  priests  from  France 
ascended  the  Kennebec  and  made  friends  with  the  tribes 
between  that  river  and  the  Penobscot.  When  the  mo 
nopoly  granted  to  De  Monts  was  revoked,  a  company  of 
French  merchants  was  found  to  carry  on  the  fur -trade. 
They  executed  their  plans  through  the  agency  of  Samuel 
de  Champlain,  the  most  eminent  of  all  the  leaders  in 
French  colonization  in  America.  Champlain  was  a  man 
of  talents,  education,  and  wide  experience.  In  1608,  he 
founded  Quebec,  and  led  an  invading  party  c^mpi^ 
against  the  hostile  Iroquois.  He  visited  the  founds  Que- 
lake  which  bears  his  name.  The  religious 
orders,  especially  the  Jesuit  Society,  sent  out  their  mis 
sionaries  in  an  increasing  number.  The  history  of  the 
Jesuit  missionaries  in  the  "  New  Land "  is  a  record  of 
almost  unexampled  devotion  and  fortitude.  France  was 
laying  the  foundations  for  what  bade  fair  to  be  a  wide 
spread  and  lasting  dominion. 

After  the  voyages  of  the  Cabots,  Henry  VH.  was  desir 
ous  of  avoiding  a  conflict  with  the  pretensions  of  Spain. 
When  Edward  VI.  ascended  the  throne  Sebas 
tian  Cabot  was  an  old  man.  He  was  made  gov-  voyajfes8  of 
ernor  of  a  company  of  merchants  who  were  to  exp  01 
seek  for  the  coast  of  China  by  the  northeastern  route. 
An  expedition  was  sent  out  under  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby. 
One  of  the  vessels  reached  the  harbor  of  Archangel.  The 
only  result  of  the  enterprise  was  the  opening  of  commer 
cial  communication  with  Russia.  As  long  as  Henry  VIH. 
acknowledged  the  papacy,  he  had  felt  bound  to  respect 
the  Pope's  grant  to  Spain.  When  he  threw  off  the  papal 
authority,  and  broke  with  Charles  V.  on  account  of  the 
discarding  of  Queen  Catharine,  the  Emperor's  aunt,  he 
was  more  free  from  restraint.  There  was  still  faith  in 
the  possibility  of  finding  a  northwestern  passage  to  the 


24  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

land  of  spices,  and  the  fisheries  of  Newfoundland  grew 
more  and  more  attractive.  On  the  accession  of  Eliza 
beth,  the  antagonism  of  England  to  Spain  became  in 
tense.  The  spirit  of  maritime  adventure  and  exploration 
grew  into  a  passion.  Even  when  the  nations  were  nom 
inally  at  peace,  English  sea  rovers  lost  no  opportunity  to 
intercept  and  capture  the  Spanish  vessels,  laden  with 
treasure,  which  they  met  with,  or  hunted  for,  on  the 
ocean.  Elizabeth  connived  at  these  breaches  of  public 
law,  which  were  prompted  to  a  considerable  extent  by 
patriotic  feeling,  in  retaliation  for  wrongs  inflicted  on 
English  subjects  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Inquisi 
tion.  They  were  agreeable  to  her  as  bringing  gold 
and  silver  into  her  coffers.  Repeated  voyages  of  Martin 
Frobisher  to  the  northern  coast  of  America 

Frobisher.         ,  -~r"~~.  I~7~    n     ...  _ — . —         .,        , 

led  to  geographical  discoveries  of  value,  not 
withstanding  the  partial  diversion  of  these  expeditions 
from  their  design  by  the  fancied  discovery  of  gold  and 
the  consequent  transportation  to  England  of  cargoes  of 
worthless   soil.     Sir   Francis    Drake,    in    the 
course  of  his  memorable  voyage  around  the 
world,  was  one   of   those   who   explored   the  northwrest 
coast.     There  sprung  up  a  class  of  zealous  students  of 
geography  and  active  promoters  of  discovery  and  coloni 
zation.     Richard  Hakluyt  is  a  typical  example 
Hakluyt.  J ,, 

of   this  class.     From    early  youth,  fascinated 

by  geographical  studies  and  accounts  of  voyages,  he  gave 
all  his  time  at  the  university  to  these  researches,  and 
accepted  the  post  of  chaplain  to  the  English  ambassador 
at  Paris  for  the  express  purpose  of  informing  himself 
respecting  the  discoveries  and  colonial  enterprises  of  the 
French  and  Spanish.  Afterwards,  in  addition  to  his  per 
sonal  connection  with  such  undertakings,  he  published 
copious  historical  accounts  of  enterprises,  especially  Eng 
lish  enterprises,  of  this  character. 


DISCO VEHIES   AND   SETTLEMENTS  25 

Two  names  which  are  conspicuous  at  this  period  in 
maritime  undertakings  are  Humphrey  Gilbert  and  Wal 
ter  Raleigh.  Gilbert  was  the  half-brother  of  Gilbert  aud 
Raleigh,  and  was  thirteen  years  older.  Gil-  Raleigh. 
bert's  untimely  death  prevented  him  from  doing  what 
he  might  have  done,  but  he  lived  long  enough  to  merit 
the  high  place  which  he  holds  in  the  catalogue  of  ex 
plorers.  Raleigh  was  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  that 
day,  and  as  versatile  as  he  was  able.  He  was  a  soldier, 
taking  his  first  lessons  in  war  from  the  Huguenots  in 
France,  to  join  whose  army  he  left  his  studies  at  Ox 
ford  when  he  was  only  seventeen,  and  in  whose  bat 
tles  he  fought  during  the  next  seven  years.  He  be 
came,  likewise,  the  foremost  English  seaman,  as  skilful 
and  daring  in  naval  encounters  as  he  was  in  contests 
on  the  land.  He  was  an  orator,  also,  and  a  leader 
in  the  House  of  Commons  ;  a  courtier  too,  displacing 
rivals  and  winning  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  personal 
regard  of  Elizabeth,  who  showered  on  him  estates  and 
monopolies,  the  usual  rewards  bestowed  on  her  favorites. 
Lastly,  he  was  a  literary  man,  a  friend  of  Sidney  and  of 
Spenser.  He  beguiled  his  prison  hours  at  last  in  the 
composition  of  a  history  of  the  world.  If  Raleigh  had 
great  faults,  he  had  great  merits.  They  were  the  charac 
teristic  merits  and  faults  of  his  time  and  country.  One 
thread  runs  through  all  his  career.  He  cherished  an  un 
dying  antipathy  to  Spain  and  Spanish  rule.  He  fought 
Spain  in  the  Low  Countries  ;  in  Ireland,  where  he  took 
part  in  the  conflict  and  massacre  at  Smerwick  ;  in  the 
harbor  of  Cadiz,  where  he  was  in  the  van  in  the  attack 
on  the  Spanish  fleet ;  and  wherever  on  the  seas  a  Span 
ish  ship  could  be  assailed.  He  had  large  plans  for  wrest 
ing  from  Spain  all  her  American  possessions,  and,  even  if 
that  could  not  be  done,  for  building  up  a  rival  Eng 
lish  dominion  in  the  New  World.  With  broad  schemes 


26  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

of  this  nature  he  no  doubt  had  an  eye,  also,  to  the  ad 
vancement  of  his  own  private  fortunes. 

In  1578  Gilbert,  who  had  been  knighted  for  services  in 
Ireland,  parted  with  his  patrimony  and  sold  his  estates 
Gilbert's  first  ^°  £e^  the  means  t°  ^  ou^  a  great  expedi- 
expeditkra.  tion.  Letters-patent  were  given  him  to  con 
quer  and  possess  any  heathen  lands  not  already  in  the 
hands  of  Christians.  The  selfishness  and  folly  of  some  of 
his  associates  reduced  his  force  of  men  and  vessels.  He 
sailed,  however,  on  November  18,  1578,  with  seven  ships, 
one  of  which  was  commanded  by  Raleigh.  The  destina 
tion  of  the  fleet  was  not  revealed,  and  now  is  not  known  ; 
but  it  was  apparently  intended  for  an  attack  on  the  Span 
iards  somewhere.  It  returned  the  next  summer,  after  an 
encounter  in  which  one  of  the  ships  was  lost.  Not  dis 
heartened  by  this  experience,  Gilbert,  in  June, 
1583,  embarked  on  a  second  voyage  with 


five  ships.  He  landed  on  the  coast  of  New 
foundland,  and  took  possession  of  that  island  in  the  name 
of  the  Queen.  He  explored  the  coast  southward  for  a 
certain  distance,  but  at  last  had  to  turn  his  course 
homeward,  with  only  two  ships,  the  remnant  of  his  fleet. 
On  the  return  voyage,  the  frigate  in  which  Gilbert  sailed 
was  wrecked,  and  the  brave  commander  perished.  In 

1584,  Ealeigh  obtained  a  charter  from  Eliza- 
s  c  ifd  s  l(f\\  t  beth,  and  fitted  out  at  his  own  cost  two  ves- 
two  vessels.  ge^  un(jer  the  command  of  Philip  Amadas  and 
Arthur  Barlow,  the  latter  of  whom  wrote  the  history  of  the 
voyage.  They  sailed  southward  along  the  shores  of  Caro 
lina.  Barlow's  narrative,  which  contained  a  glowing  de 
scription  of  the  newly  found  region,  was  presented  by 
Raleigh  to  the  Queen.  About  this  time  he  received  the 
honor  of  knighthood.  To  the  regions  which  his  captains 
had  visited,  the  Virgin  Queen  gave  the  name  of  Virginia. 
It  shows  what  profit  Raleigh  gained  from  his  monopoly  in 


DISCOVEKIKS   AND    SETTLEMENTS  27 

the  sale  of  wines,  and  from  other  benefits  conferred  by  his 
royal  mistress,  that  he  was  able  to  fit  out  another  fleet  of 
seven  vessels,  at  the  same  time  that  he  aided 

.       ,  Tit  Ralei  g  h '  s 

Davis,  one  of  his  friends,  to  undertake  a  voyage  colony  at  Ro 
to  the  northwestern  coast.  Raleigh's  vessels, 
which  carried  out  one  hundred  and  eight  colonists,  had 
for  their  naval  commander  a  brave  seaman,  Sir  Richard 
Grenville,  and  carried,  as  governor  of  the  prospective 
colony,  a  soldier  of  repute,  Ralph  Lane.  They  reached 
Roanoke,  where  they  established  themselves.  They  ex 
amined,  however,  the  neighboring  coast  southward  to  the 
Sscotan,  and  northward  as  far  as  the  Chesapeake,  and 
pushed  for  some  distance  into  the  interior.  They  were 
charmed  with  the  scenery  and  with  the  products  of  the 
country.  They  quickly  turned  to  their  use  three  of  the 
indigenous  products  of  America — tobacco,  maize,  and  po 
tatoes.  Through  the  agency  of  these  colonists  of  Ra 
leigh,  tobacco  was  introduced  into  England.  By  his 
personal  example  he  did  much  to  make  the  use  of  it  com 
mon.  The  potato  he  was  the  first  to  cultivate,  planting 
the  tubers  on  his  Irish  lands  near  Cork.  Lane  shows  his 
enthusiasm  in  a  letter  to  Elizabeth's  Secretary  of  State, 
Walsingham  :  "  All  the  kingdomes  and  states  of  Chrysten- 
dom  theyere  comodytyes  joyeyned  in  one  together,  doo  not 
yealde  ether  more  good  or  more  plentyfulle  whatsoever  for 
publyck  use  ys  needeful  or  pleasinge  for  delyghte." 

Nevertheless  provisions  began  to  fail.  The  colonists 
were  homesick,  and  when  Sir  Francis  Drake  touched  at 
Roanoke  on  his  way  home,  and  when  the  bark  and  the 
boats  which  he  proposed  to  leave  for  their  use  were  swept 
away  in  a  sudden  storm,  they  were  glad  to  be  transported 
by  him  from  this  earthly  paradise  to  England,  leaving  fif 
teen  persons  behind  to  hold  the  place  and  wait  for  new 
comers.  Time  had  been  wasted  in  journeys  in  quest  of 
gold  and  pearls,  and  the  Indians  had  been  offended  by 


THE    COLONIAL    ERA 

harsh  treatment.     In  1587,  Raleigh's  last  colony  was  sent 

oat,  comprising  in  it  wives  and  families,  and  instructed 

Raleigh's  last  to  settle  on  the  Chesapeake.     The  fifteen  men 

cofony.        who  ^d  been  left  at  Roanoke  }iacj  perished. 

There  John  White,  the  leader  of  the  new  company,  was 
obliged  to  stay — as  he  alleged,  on  account  of  the  refusal  of 
the  pilot  to  explore  the  coast.  The  settlers  suffered  from 
the  hostility  of  a  tribe  of  Indians.  Other  troubles  existed, 
so  that  White  went  back  to  England  in  the  returning  ves 
sel  to  seek  for  reinforcements  and  supplies.  But  Eng 
land  was  now  completely  absorbed  in  the  preparations  to 
beat  back  the  Spanish  Armada.  There  was  no  room  for 
thought  of  anything  else.  Yet  in  the  spring  of  1588, 
Ealeigh  sent  White  with  two  vessels  containing  supplies 
for  the  colonists  at  Roanoke.  Both  ships,  owing  to  an 
encounter  with  French  men-of-war,  put  back  to  England. 
Raleigh  had  now  spent  £40,000  in  his  efforts  to  colonize 
Virginia.  To  secure  the  prosecution  of  the  work,  still 
retaining  his  charter,  he  made  a  company  of  adventurers 
and  merchants  sharers  in  the  benefits  of  the  patent  which 

he  had  granted  to  the  Roanoke  settlers.  In 
Roanoke  *et-  1590,  White  returned  to  Roanoke,  but  found  no 

traces  of  the  colonists.  They  had  either  per 
ished  or  been  incorporated  among  the  Hatteras  Indians. 
Evidence  of  some  weight  has  been  gathered  in  support  of 
the  latter  theory.  Among  the  lost  was  White's  daughter, 
Eleanor  Dare,  and  his  grandchild,  the  first  child  born  of 
English  parents  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States. 

In  1602,  Bartholomew  Gosnold,  without  authority 
from  Raleigh,  set  out  from  Falmouth  in  a  small  bark  for 
Gosnoid's  *^e  New  World.  Instead  of  taking  the  com- 
voyajre.  mon  route  by  the  way  of  the  Canaries  and  the 
West  Indies,  he  sailed  directly  across  the  Atlantic  by  the 
course  which  had  been  taken  by  Verrazano,  from  whose 
letter  he  may  have  derived  the  suggestion.  He  visited 


DISCOVERIES   AND   SETTLEMENTS  29 

the  coast  of  Maine,  sailed  southward,  rounded  Cape 
Cod,  and  on  one  of  the  Elizabeth  islands  his  men  built 
a  house  roofed  with  rushes.  But  they  fell  into  a  dispute 
among  themselves,  and  abandoned  the  island — if  indeed 
they  had  ever  proposed  to  remain  there — and  went  back 
to  England  with  a  freight  of  sassafras  and  cedar.  This 
voyage  led  to  other  expeditions.  In  1603, 
Martin  Pring  came  over  to  the  coast  of  New 
England,  entered  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  the  harbor 
where  Plymouth  is  situated.  His  two  vessels  remained 
long  enough  for  an  acquaintance  to  be  made  with  the 
Indians,  and  also  for  gathering  cargoes  of  sassafras, 
which  was  the  object  that  Pring  had  in  view.  In  1605, 
George  Wevmouth  was  the  leader  in  an  expedi- 

,  .  ,  ,,        ,  i       TI     i      •  a       .  i          Weymouth. 

tion  which  was  sent  out  by  the  Earl  01  ooutn- 
ampton  and  Lord  Aruudel.  Weymouth  had  previously 
explored  the  coast  of  Labrador.  He  now  sailed  north 
ward  from  Cape  Cod  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  and 
up  that  river.  Weymouth's  reports  directed  the  atten 
tion  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  to  the  advantages  of  the 
Maine  coast,  which  so  abounds  in  good  harbors.  The 
co-operation  of  Popham,  the  Lord  Chief-Justice  of  Eng 
land,  was  secured  by  Gorges.  The  result  was  that  the 
harbors  and  rivers  of  that  coast  were  more  carefully  ex 
amined  by  a  vessel  that  Pcpham  sent  out. 

When  the  seventeenth  century  dawned,  England  had 
planted  no  permanent  settlement  in  the  New  World. 
Spain  and  Portugal,  which  had  been  the  pioneers  in  the 
work  of  discovery  and  conquest,  had  acquired  extensive 
possessions  over  which  they  ruled.  The  Spanish  mon 
archy  had  begun  to  decline  in  vigor,  but  was  still  strong 
and  formidable.  The  time  had  now  come  when  England 
was  to  succeed  in  laying  the  foundation  of  permanent 
colonies  on  the  American  continent.  The  circumstances 
were  somewhat,  if  not  altogether,  propitious. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

VIRGINIA  UNTIL  1688 

James  I.  and  his  Policy— Incentives  to  Colonization — The  Virginia 
Company — Constitution  of  its  Two  Branches — The  London 
Company — The  Settlement  of  Jamestown—  John  Smith — The 
New  Charter — Delaware — Dale — Argall — The  Third  Charter — 
The  House  of  Burgesses — Growth  of  the  Colony — Annulling  of 
the  Charter — Spanish  Intrigues — Harvey — Berkeley — Under 
the  Commonwealth — Navigation  Laws — Arlington  and  Culpep- 
per — Bacon's  Rebellion— A  Royal  Province— Negro  Slavery. 

IN  1603,  James  I.  succeeded  to  the  English  throne,  thus 
uniting  the  crowns  of  England  and  of  Scotland.  The 
James  i.  and  *ong  an(^  splendid  reign  of  the  last  of  the  Tu- 
fcs  policy,  dors  was  followed  by  the  ignoble  rule  of  the 
Stuarts.  The  proud  spirit  of  independence  and  self- 
reliance  which  had  characterized  both  Elizabeth  and  her 
people  gave  way  to  a  truckling  polic}'  in  the  dealings  of 
the  government  with  Spain,  which  was  prompted  by  a 
desire  to  avoid  war.  There  was  nothing  sinful  in  such 
a  desire.  Elizabeth  had  been  driven  to  contend  with  a 
conspiracy  against  her  throne  and  her  life.  The  son  of 
Mary  Stuart  was  differently  situated.  He  might  natur 
ally  feel  that  he  was  not  called  upon  to  take  up  the  con 
test  which  had  been  forced  upon  his  predecessor  in  con 
sequence  of  the  denial  of  her  title  to  the  crown.  James 
may  be  pardoned  for  indulging  the  hope  that  peace  could 
be  restored  with  the  Catholic  powers,  and  even  with  the 
Pope,  and  that  a  way  might  be  found  for  a  cessation  of 
the  conflict  of  the  European  nations,  one  with  another. 


ORIGIN. 


Longitude  100 


The  grants  of  1606  extended  100  miles  inward  from  the  coast ; 
the  grants  of  1609.  1020,  1629,  and  1665,  from  "Sea  to  Sea. 


,  GRANTS 


from 


•JO  Greenwich 


SCALE  OF   MILES 

0    100    ','00    300    iOO    500    600    700    800    900   1000 


i  I 


VIRGINIA   UNTIL   1688  31 

His  fault  lay  in  the  conceit  and  presumption  which  led 
to  his  being  outwitted  by  Spain,  and  still  more  in  his 
consenting  to  the  humiliation  of  England  for  advantages 
that  were  trifling  in  comparison  with  the  price  that  was 
paid  for  them.  The  result  of  his  policy  was  that  Eng 
land  sunk  in  the  estimation  of  foreign  powers,  while  the 
lukewarm  Protestantism,  of  the  king,  and  his  contempt 
for  popular  rights,  were  building  up  within  the  kingdom 
the  great  Puritan  party,  and  planting  the  seeds  of  civil 
war,  to  bear  their  harvest  in  the  next  reign.  On  the 
accession  of  James  there  were  fresh  incentives  incentives  to 
to  colonization.  All  through  the  sixteenth  cen-  co]onization- 
tury  there  had  been  a  complaint  in  England  of  a  redun 
dancy  of  population.  Such  were  the  relations  of  classes 
and  the  state  of  industry  that  the  peasant  class  had  to 
endure  much  poverty  and  distress,  and  the  conviction 
spread  that  some  relief  must  be  found.  Crimes  multi 
plied  to  a  fearful  extent,  and  were  not  checked  by  the 
cruel  character  of  the  penal  laws.  Under  Elizabeth,  in 
the  protracted  conflict  with  Spain,  and  in  the  wars  in 
the  Netherlands,  there  had  been  an  outlet  for  surplus 
energy,  employment  for  the  restless  and  adventurous. 
Now,  with  various  other  sorts  of  idlers,  there  were  not  a 
few  disbanded  soldiers  from  the  Low  Countries;  for 
James,  in  his  first  year,  suspended  hostilities  with  Spain, 
and  in  the  year  following  signed  a  peace  with  that  coun 
try.  The  day  for  the  exploits  of  heroes  like  Drake  and 
Raleigh  was  over.  After  the  period  of  discovery,  and  of 
voyages  prompted  largely  by  dreams  of  sudden  conquests 
and  dazzling  riches,  the  time  had  come  for  more  sober 
and  better  contrived  plans  of  emigration.  Imagination 
was  still  alive,  for  the  New  World  was  yet  to  a  great  ex 
tent  a  mystery.  But  plentiful  experiences  of  disaster 
and  failure  had  not  been  wholly  in  vain.  The  proceed 
ings  of  Gosnold,  of  Gorges,  and  of  Popham  indicated  an 


32  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

altered  spirit  in  connection  with  such  enterprises.  They 
were  felt  to  be  too  large  and  expensive  for  single  indi 
viduals  to  undertake.  It  was  organized  companies  on 
whom  was  to  devolve  the  difficult  task  of  establishing 
permanent  settlements  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  of  thus 
laying  the  foundations  of  great  commonwealths.  The 
organization  of  the  East  India  Company,  in  1599,  had 
afforded  an  example  of  corporate  societies  of  this  gen 
eral  character,  although  that  company  was  established 
simply  for  purposes  of  trade. 

On  April  10,  1C06,  King  James  granted  to  Sir  Thomas 
charter  of  Gates,  Richard  Hakluyt,  Edward  Wingfield, 
the  Virginia  George  Popham,  and  others,  the  first  charter 
of  Virginia.  It  provided  for  the  establishment 
of  a  company,  or  of  one  company  in  two  branches.  The 
southern,  or  London  Company — or  "  Colony  "  as  it  was 
called — was  to  have  the  authority  to  occupy  lands  be 
tween  the  thirty-fourth  and  forty-first  degrees  of  north 
latitude.  The  second,  or  Plymouth  Colony,  having  its 
head-quarters  at  that  place,  was  to  occupy  the  lands  be 
tween  the  thirty-eighth  and  forty-fifth  degrees.  The  two 
grants  overlapped  each  other,  but  each  company  was 
prohibited  from  placing  a  settlement  within  a  hundred 
miles  of  a  previous  settlement  planted  by  the  other. 
Each  company  was  to  have  a  hundred  miles  of  sea-coast, 
half  to  the  north  and  half  to  the  south  of  its  colony,  with 
the  islands  for  a  hundred  miles  eastward,  and  the  terri 
tory  to  the  same  distance  westward.  The  extent  of 
America  westward  was  then  quite  unknown.  In  the  let 
ters  of  the  time  Virginia  is  often  spoken  of  as  an  island. 
Constitn-  Each  company  was  to  have  a  resident  council 
two  comphae-  °f  thirteen  members,  to  be  appointed  and  re- 
nies.  moved  as  the  king  should  direct.  There  was 

to  be  a  superintending  Council  of  Virginia,  consisting  of 
fourteen  persons,  and  appointed  by  the  king,  with  full 


VIRGINIA   UNTIL   1688  33 

authority  to  manage  and  govern,  subject,  of  course,  to 
his  direction.  The  two  subordinate  councils  were  au 
thorized  to  coin  money,  and  to  mine  for  the  metals,  it 
being  stipulated  that  one-fifth  of  the  gold  and  silver 
obtained  should  be  paid  to  the  sovereign.  The  patentees 
were  empowered  to  exact  duties,  the  rate  of  which  was 
fixed,  on  goods  imported  by  Englishmen  and  by  foreign 
ers.  Lands  assigned  by  the  resident  councils  wTere  to 
be  held  "  in  free  and  common  socage  " — that  is,  by  the 
same  tenure  as  lands  in  England.  The  colony  has  been 
styled  "  a  vast  joint-stock  farm,  or  collection  of  farms." 
Each  colonist  was  to  be  supported  from  the  common 
earnings,  and  to  have  a  certain  share  in  the  profits.  The 
colonists  and  their  children  were  to  have  "all  liberties, 
franchises,  and  immunities,"  "  to  all  intents  and  pur 
poses,"  of  native-born  subjects  of  the  king — a  guarantee 
to  which  in  subsequent  times  there  was  frequently  occa 
sion  to  appeal.  If  any  attacked  or  robbed  the  vessels  of 
other  nations  with  which  England  was  at  peace,  and, 
when  proclamation  of  the  wrong  had  been  made  in  any  of 
the  ports  of  the  realm,  should  refuse  to  make  just  rep 
aration,  the  offenders  were  to  be  deprived  of  protection 
and  left  to  the  vengeance  of  princes  and  others  whom 
they  had  injured.  This  ordinance,  which  was  to  prevent 
piracy,  no  doubt  sprung  especially  from  the  desire  to 
avoid  occasions  of  quarrel  with  Spain. 

About  six  months  later  the  superior  council  was  nomi 
nated  by  the  king.  Sir  John  Popham,  the  Chief-Justice, 
was  one  of  the  members,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gor-  The  Roval 
ges,  who  became  very  prominent  in  connection  t'onncfl. 
with  American  affairs,  was  another.  The  council  was  soon 
enlarged  by  the  addition  of  eleven  new  names,  one  of  the 
additions  being  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  whose  influence,  after 
a  time,  became  predominant  in  the  London  Company. 
For  this  company,  which  was  to  send  out  the  first  col- 
3 


34  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

ony,  a  set  of  instructions  to  serve  as  a  constitution  was 
framed,  and  was  issued  by  the  authority  of  the  king. 
The  council  in  England  was  to  nominate  the  resident 
council,  whose  president  was  to  be  a  layman  chosen  by 
itself.  The  Church  of  England  was  to  be  maintained. 
It  was  enjoined  to  treat  the  natives  kindly,  and  "to 
use  all  proper  means  to  draw  them  to  the  true  knowl 
edge  and  love  of  God."  Persons  accused  of  heinous 
offences,  which  were  specified,  were  to  be  tried  by  jury. 
Minor  offences  were  to  be  punished  by  the  council  at 
their  discretion.  The  council  might  pass  laws  provis 
ionally,  but  in  order  to  continue  in  force  they  must  be 
ratified  either  by  the  colonial  Council  in  England,  or  by 
royal  authority.  But  such  enactments  must  not  affect 
life  or  limb.  The  local  council  was  to  appoint  a  Treas 
urer  or  Cape  Merchant,  to  regulate  trade.  The  products 
of  the  labor  of  the  colony  were  to  be  gathered  into  maga 
zines  prepared  for  the  purpose,  from  which  supplies  were 
to  be  given  out  to  the  settlers. 

The  Constitution  of  Virginia  put  all  power  into  the 
hands  of  the  crown.  It  made  the  king,  in  relation  to 
the  colony,  an  absolute  sovereign.  It  was  fortunate  for 
liberty  in  America  that  it  did  not  remain  the  permanent 
system  of  government. 

The  fleet  which  the  London  merchants  provided  for 
transporting  the  emigrants  —  one  hundred  and  five  in 
number — was  placed  under  the  command  of  a  competent 
The  Virginia  and  tried  seaman,  Christopher  Newport.  It 

colony.  gailed  Qn  pecember  19,  1606.  Into  the  hands 
of  Newport,  and  of  two  others,  Gosnold  and  John  Eat- 
cliffe,  who  were  associated  with  him  in  command,  there 
was  given  a  sealed  paper,  to  be  opened  on  their  ar 
rival  in  Virginia,  containing  the  names  of  the  resident 
council.  In  another  paper  minute  directions  were  given 
as  to  the  selection  of  a  site,  the  exploring  of  the  region, 


VIRGINIA    UNTIL   1688  35 

the  treatment  of  the  natives,  and  other  topics.  The  num 
ber  of  colonists  who  were  to  accompany  Newport  in  his 
journeys  of  exploration  was  fixed.  His  main  objects 
were  to  be  the  search  for  the  precious  metals  and  for  a 
way  to  the  South  Seas.  Among  the  colonists  who  sailed 
with  Newport  were  Gosnold,  whose  previous  voyage  has 
already  been  mentioned  ;  Wingfield,  who  was  a  merchant ; 
Hunt,  who  went  out  as  chaplain ;  and  the  renowned 
John  Smith,  who  had  had  abundant  experience  in  differ 
ent  countries  as  a  soldier  and  adventurer,  and  was  led 
through  his  acquaintance  with  Gosnold  to  join  the  ex 
pedition  to  a  land  where  his  courage  and  capacity  were 
to  prove  of  essential  value.  Not  much  less  than  one-half 
of  the  colonists  were  "  gentlemen,"  with  no  experience  in 
manual  labor  ;  there  were  not  many  laborers  ;  there  were 
a  few  mechanics  ;  but  most  of  the  emigrants  were  sol 
diers  and  servants.  Before  the  fleet  reached  Virginia 
there  was  dissension  on  board,  and  for  some  unknown 
reason  John  Smith  was  placed  under  arrest.  On  opening 
the  sealed  paper  his  name  was  found  to  be  on  the  list  of 
the  council.  This  body  chose  Wingfield  for 
its  president.  On  May  13,  1607,  contrary  to 
Gosn old's  judgment,  Jamestown  was  pitched  upon  as  the 
place  of  settlement — the  name  being  given  to  the  place 
in  honor  of  the  king.  It  was  on  the  north  of  the 
James  River,  thirty-two  miles  from  its  mouth.  The  site 
chosen  for  the  settlement  was  then  a  low  peninsula. 

On  May  21st  Captain  Newport,  with  a  party  of  twenty- 
three  companions,  started  up  the  river  in  the  shallop  on 
an  exploring  tour.     From  a  "  gentleman  "  of 
the  party  we  have  a  detailed  account  of  what  exploring 
they  did  and  saw.     They  went  as  far  as  the  party' 
site  of   Richmond.     They    were   hospitably  treated  and 
faithfully  guided  by  the  Indians.     Among  them  was  a 
chieftain  who  was  a  namesake  and  perhaps  a  son  of  a 


30  THE   COLOXIAL   ERA 

more  powerful  potentate,  Powhatan.  The  garden  of  the 
subordinate  chief  was  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  There, 
the  "Diary"  informs  us,  "he  sowed  his  wheate,  beane, 
peaze,  tobacco,  pompions,  gourds,  hempe,  flaxe,  etc." 
"  Were  any  art,"  it  is  added,  "  used  to  the  natural!  state 
of  this  place,  it  would  be  a  goodly  habitatyon." 

On  the  return  of  the  party,  on  May  27th,  they  learned 
that  the  settlers  had  been  obliged  to  repel  a  formidable 
attack  by  two  hundred  savages.  Newport  completed  the 
palisade  about  the  fort,  gave  the  colonists  the  best  advice, 
insisting  on  the  importance  of  harmony  and  good  con 
duct,  and,  on  June  22d,  sailed  for  England.  The  chron 
icler  quoted  above  has  this  record  :  "  21,  Sondaye. — We 
had  a  comunyon.  Capt.  Newport  dyned  ashore  with  our 
dyet,  and  invyted  many  of  us  to  supper  as  a  farewell." 
The  sacrament  was  administered  according  to  the  forms  of 
the  English  Church,  under  the  shelter  of  a  sail  stretched 
from  one  tree  to  another.  Newport's  good  counsels  did 
Divisions  BO*  ava^  to  secure  peace.  As  soon  as  he  had 
and  chutes.  gOn6}  disputes  broke  out.  Gosnold,  the  most 
influential  man,  died.  Wingfield  was  unpopular,  fell  out 
with  several  of  his  associates  in  the  council,  and  was  de 
posed  from  the  office  of  Governor.  Batcliffe  took  his 
place,  but  succeeded  no  better.  He  exchanged  blows  with 
one  Reed,  and  Reed  for  his  offence  wras  sentenced  to  die. 
He  charged  one  Kendal  with  plotting  a  mutiny,  and 
Kendal  was  hanged  in  Reed's  place. 

Half  of  the  colonists  died  during  the  summer.  Au 
tumn  came  and  brought  supplies  of  wild-fowl  and  of  maize. 
John  smith  Early  in  December,  Smith  went  with  a  party 
a  captive.  Up  ^e  Chickahominy  to  explore  the  river  and 
to  trade  for  corn.  Ascending  as  far  as  he  could  in  his 
barge,  he  left  his  company,  and  with  two  Indian  guides 
and  two  Englishmen,  proceeded  farther  up  the  stream. 
He  landed,  leaving  his  two  companions  in  the  canoe. 


VIRGINIA    UNTIE   1688  37 

They  were  attacked   and  slain  by  hostile  savages,  and 
Smith  himself,  who  had  only  one  Indian  guide  with  him, 
was  captured.     He  amused  his  captors  by  showing  them 
a  pocket  compass.     He  was  conveyed  by  them  from  vil 
lage  to  village,  and  was  at  last  brought  to  the  great  Pow- 
hatan,  whom  he  calls  the  "Emperor,"  by  whom  he  was 
kindly  received  and  sent  to  Jamestown    in   peace  and 
safety.     Such,  in  substance,  is  the  account  which  Smith 
gives   in   his    "True   Eelation   of  Virginia,"  which   was 
written  at  the  time  and  printed  in   1608.     In  a  subse 
quent  work,  which  he  edited,  the  "General!  Historic," 
which  was  published  in  1624,    he  relates   the   familiar 
story  of  his  salvation  from  imminent  death  by  the  inter 
cession  of  the  chieftain's  daughter,  Pocahontas.    Not  only 
is  this  tale    inconsistent  with   the  "  True   Relation "  of 
1608  ;  it  is  not  found  in  a  later  publication,  the  tract  of 
1612,  the  appendix  to  which  was  written  by  Smith's  com 
panions  ;  and  it  is  wholly  wanting  in  the  "  Discourse  of 
Virginia  "  by  Wingfield,  who  was  then  at  Jamestown,  and 
tells  us  the  story  of  Smith's  capture  and  release.     In  his 
publication,  issued  sixteen  years  after  the  event,  Smith 
amplified  the  original  account  by  this  addition,  possibly 
to   please   the   readers  to  whom   Pocahontas,   then  the 
wife  of  an  Englishman,  John  Rolfe,  had  become  a  ro 
mantic  personage.     The  preface  and  other  parts  of  the 
"  General  History  "  may  seem  to  indicate  that  he  had  a 
taste    for   this   sort   of  adornment.     Pocahontas    was  a 
child  twelve  years  old  when  Smith's  marvellous  deliver 
ance  is  said  to  have  occurred. 

On  the  return  of  Smith  he  encountered  the  hostility 
of  Ratcliffe,  who  proved  to  be  a  foolish  and  incapable 
governor.  Ratcliffe  preferred  against  him  groundless  ac 
cusations.  He  was  delivered  from  danger  by  the  timely 
arrival  of  Newport  with  fresh  supplies.  Disorder  arose 
in  the  colony  in  consequence  of  the  fancied  discovery 


38  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

of  a  gold  mine.  For  seven  weeks,  Smith  was  engaged 
in  exploring  the  shores  of  the  bay  and  the  Potomac 
River.  The  confusion  which  he  found  to  exist 
comes  prest-  on  his  return  was  quieted  by  the  removal  of 
Katcliffe  from  office.  About  this  time  there 
was  a  fire  at  Jamestown  which  consumed  a  part  of  the 
provisions.  Smith  was  now  made  president.  He  de 
parted  again  to  continue  his  exploration  of  the  bay  ;  but 
his  narrative  of  what  he  undoubtedly  accomplished  is 
decorated  with  more  apocryphal  incidents.  In  Septem 
ber  a  band  of  new-comers  was  brought  over  by  New 
port.  In  this  period  it  was  to  the  energy  and  tact  of 
Smith  that  the  salvation  of  the  colony  was  due.  He  was 
active  in  all  directions.  He  taught  the  "gentlemen"  to 
use  tools  and  to  till  the  ground.  It  was  encouraging 
that  two  women  and  eight  Polish  and  German  mechanics 
were  among  those  who  came  with  Newport. 

But  at  the  moment  the  prospects  of  the  colony  were 
dark.  The  company  complained  to  Smith  of  the  small- 
ness  of  their  profits.  He  showed  them  in  a 
of  t£epcom-  temperate  letter  that  their  complaint  was  un 
reasonable.  Their  spirit  is  seen  in  their  in 
structions  to  Newport  to  find  either  a  lump  of  gold,  a 
way  to  the  South  Seas,  or  news  of  Raleigh's  lost  colo 
nists.  Wingfield  and  others  who  had  returned  to  Eng 
land  spread  reports  of  the  misfortunes  and  contentions 
of  the  colonists.  The  new  settlement  began  to  provoke 
ridicule.  The  fact  was  overlooked  that  "  the  air  of  Vir 
ginia  could  work  no  charm  to  turn  idle  spendthrifts  into 
hard-working  settlers."  But  the  condition  of  the  colony 
had  the  effect  to  arouse  in  England  a  new  zeal  in  behalf 
of  the  enterprise.  Pamphlets  were  written  on  the  im 
portance  of  it.  Unhappily,  one  of  the  considerations 
urged  was  the  need  of  a  place  abroad  for  idlers  and 
scapegraces.  The  pulpit  added  its  exhortations.  On 


VIRGINIA   UNTIL   1688  39 

May  23,  1609,  a  new  charter  was  issued  to  the  company, 
which  was  now  greatly  enlarged,  and  received  all  the 
privileges  of  a  corporation.  At  the  head  of  A  new  char. 
the  long  list  of  persons  who  were  to  be  the  ter- 
nucleus  of  the  company  is  Eobert  Cecil,  the  Earl  of 
Salisbury,  whose  name  is  followed  by  six  earls  besides, 
and  by  an  imposing  array  of  other  representatives  of  the 
nobility,  and  members  of  the  various  professions  and 
trades.  Among  these  is  the  name  of  Francis  Bacon. 
The  Treasurer  was  to  be  the  chief  executive  officer. 
There  was  to  be  a  council  in  England,  the  vacancies  in 
which  were  to  be  filled  by  the  company,  by  whom  the 
Treasurer,  also,  was  to  be  chosen.  This  council  was  to 
appoint  a  local  governor,  to  supersede  the  local  council, 
which  had  heretofore  ruled  the  colony,  and  to  govern 
with  unchecked  authority.  All  legislative  power  was 
vested  in  the  council.  It  was  to  be  exempt  from  paying 
duties,  except  the  five  per  cent,  customs,  for  twenty-one 
years  ;  but  it  might  exact  duties  on  exports  and  imports, 
the  rate  of  which  was  fixed.  The  territory  of  the  company 
was  to  extend  two  hundred  miles  to  the  north  and  two 
hundred  miles  to  the  south  of  Point  Comfort,  and  over 
"all  that  space  and  circuit  of  land,"  from  "sea  to  sea, 
west  and  northwest."  This  last  term  in  the  definition  of 
boundaries  founded  the  claim  of  Virginia  to  the  territory 
northwest  of  the  Ohio.  For  seven  years  the  company  was 
to  be  a  "joint-stock  farm,  or  collection  of  farms,"  and  at 
the  end  of  that  time  each  shareholder  was  to  receive  a  due 
allotment  of  land.  An  emigrant  entering  into  the  service 
of  the  company  was  to  own  one  share.  Whether  the  pri 
vate  ownership  of  farms  to  any  extent,  or  private  trade, 
up  to  that  limit  of  time,  was  to  exist,  is  left  doubtful. 
It  would  seem  as  if  the  system  of  management  ordained 
for  a  period  was  to  be  much  like  that  of  a  penal  settle 
ment. 


40  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

Lord  Delaware,  a  man  of  worth  and  of  eminent  qualifi 
cations  for  the  post,  was  appointed  Governor.  Unfor 
tunately  he  did  not  come  out  at  once.  A  body 
of  emigrants,  five  hundred  in  number,  was 
sent  before  him,  but  the  vessel  in  which  the  three  leaders 
embarked  was  cast  on  the  Bermudas,  so  that  most  of 
them  arrived  at  Jamestown  in  advance  of  their  chiefs. 
The  new  emigrants  appear  to  have  brought  no  strength 
or  advantage  to  the  settlement.  Smith  describes  them 
as  "  unruly  gallants,"  sent  out  by  their  friends  to  save 
them  from  "ill  destinies."  Smith  himself  soon  after  was 
hurt  by  an  accident,  and  returned  to  England.  Some 
"misdemeanors"  \vere  laid  to  his  charge,  which  cannot 
have  been  of  a  serious  nature.  He  thought,  however,  that 
his  services  were  not  duly  appreciated,  and  he  did  not  re 
turn  afterward  to  Virginia.  After  he  left,  there  was  noth 
ing  but  anarchy  and  distress  in  the  colony.  Some  of  the 
settlers  were  killed  by  the  Indians,  and  many  died  of  dis 
ease.  In  the  spring  of  1610,  Lord  Delaware  arrived,  just 
in  season  to  prevent  the  miserable  remnant  of  the  people 
from  sailing  away  for  Newfoundland  in  the  pinnaces,  in 
which  they  had  already  set  out.  The  arrival  of  Lord 
Delaware  brought  in  cheerfulness  and  order.  The  local 
council  was  organized,  a  roof  was  placed  on  the  church, 
and  new  forts  were  erected.  One  hundred  and  fifty  set 
tlers  accompanied  Delaware,  and  some  effort  had  been 
made  to  secure  persons  of  good  character.  He  ruled 
well,  although  with  considerable  pomp  and  show.  In 
less  than  a  year,  in  consequence  of  failing  health,  he  re 
turned  to  England.  He  was  succeeded  in  authority  by 
Dale:  harsh  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  in  the  character  of  "High 
code" of  law.  Marshal,"  Delaware  being  still  Governor-Gen 
eral.  Dale  proceeded  with  vigor  in  the  administration 
of  the  government.  He  brought  with  him  a  system  of 
martial  law  which  had  been  framed  in  the  Netherlands. 


VIRGINIA    UNTIL   1688  41 

The  enactments  were  of  astonishing  severity.  Non-at 
tendance  upon  Sunday  services  was  made  a  capital  of 
fence.  One  guilty  of  blasphemy  for  the  second  time  was 
to  "  have  a  bodkin  thrust  through  his  tongue."  Other  of 
fences  not  connected  with  religion  were  to  be  punished 
with  equal  rigor. 

In  August,  1611,  Sir  Thomas  Gates  arrived,  with  three 
hundred  fresh  emigrants,  together  with  a  hundred  cows 
and  other  cattle.    On  him  the  government  now 
devolved.      A  new  settlement  was  formed  at 
Henrico,  and  another  at  Bermuda.     Alexander  Whitaker, 
a  godly  clergyman  and  missionary,  ministered  at  these 
places.     He  had  come  over  with  Gates.     1612 
is  the  date  of  the  beginning  of  the  systematic 
cultivation  of  tobacco,  which  is  attributed  to  John  Rolfe. 
The  cultivation  of  this  plant  was  so  lucrative  as  to  be 
come  the  predominant  and  all-controlling  oc- 

, .  .    TT-      .     .          T,  i       xi  The    culti- 

cupition  of  Virginia.  It  was  not  only  the  vation  of  to- 
principal  form  of  agriculture ;  it  kept  out 
manufacturing.  "  Its  influence,"  says  IBrock,  a  recent 
Virginia  writer,  "  permeated  the  entire  social  sphere  of 
the  colony,  directed  its  laws,  was  an  element  in  all  its  po 
litical  and  religious  disturbances,  and  became  the  direct 
instigation  of  the  curse  of  African  slavery."  Whitaker 
labored  to  convert  the  Indians.  At  Henrico,  a  college  was 
planted  for  the  education  of  the  natives.  But  the  rights 
of  the  Indians  were  sometimes  disregarded.  The  capture 
of  Pocahontas  enabled  the  English  to  conclude  a  peace 
with  Powhatan,  which  became  permanent  in  1614,  on  the 
marriage  of  the  young  princess  to  Kolfe.  The  Chicka- 
hominies  agreed  to  be  the  subjects  of  King  James.  In 
1613,  Captain  Samuel  Argall,  an  unscrupulous 
man,  was  sent  by  Dale  on  a  voyage  north 
ward  to  destroy  the  settlements  of  the  French,  which 
were  considered  an  invasion  of  the  territorial  rights  of 


42  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

Virginia.  He  expelled  a  Jesuit  colony  from  Mount  Desert 
Island.  The  next  year  he  again  left  Jamestown  and 
burned  the  deserted  houses  at  Port  Royal. 

In  1612,  a  third  charter  was  granted  to  the  Virginia 
Company,  which  gave  to  it  the  islands  for  a  distance  of 
A  third  char-  three  hundred  leagues  from  the  coast.  Thus  it 
ter>  acquired  the  Bermudas,  which,  howrever,  were 
soon  disposed  of  to  a  separate  corporation  formed  by  a 
portion  of  its  own  members.  The  new  charter  author 
ized  lotteries  in  England  for  the  benefit  of  the  company, 
by  which  a  large  sum  was  procured.  Gates,  returning 
to  England,  urged  that  "  honest  laborers "  might  be 
sent  out.  A  more  wise  policy  was  introduced  respecting 
the  possession  of  land.  Liberal  bounties  in  land  were 
offered  to  new  emigrants.  In  1615,  every  freeman  be 
came  the  owner  of  fifty  acres  in  his  own  right.  These 
changes,  with  the  gains  from  the  culture  of  tobacco, 
tended  to  inspirit  the  settlers.  When  Argall,  in  1617, 
was  sent  out  as  Deputy  Governor,  through  the  influence 
of  the  faction  in  the  company  which  was  subservient  to 
the  Court,  he  found  the  streets  and  "all  other  spare 
places  "  in  Jamestown  planted  with  tobacco.  After  two 
years,  the  arrogance,  cruelty,  and  greed  of  Argall  became 
unbearable  and  he  was  driven  out  of  the  colony.  When 
he  fled,  its  condition,  notwithstanding  all  that  had  been 
done  for  it,  was  far  from  being  prosperous.  There  were 
only  three  ordained  ministers  within  its  limits. 

But  a  new  era  now  began.  Yeardleysucceeded  Ar- 
gall,  and  at  his  coming  there  were  Tntroclucedthe  most 
important  alterations  in  the  method  of  gov 
ernment.  The  laws  ofJEnglandJ&ok  the  place 
of  Joule's  iron  code.  The  first  representative  bo3}r  of  leg 
islators  that  ever  existed  in  America  was  now  constituted. 
Its  first  meeting  was  held  on  July  30,  1619,  in  the  chan 
cel  of  the  church  at  Jamestown.  It  consisted  of  twenty- 


VIRGINIA    UNTIL   1688  43 

two  burgesses,  who  were  elected  by  the  eleven  towns, 
plantations,  and  hundreds — this  last  term  designating,  as 
in  England,  a  political  division.  The  burgesses  A  House  of 
sat  with  the  council,  and  they  formed,  together,  Burgesses. 
one  legislative  body.  It  was  clothed  with  judicial  as 
well  as  legislative  authority.  The  provision  in  the  char 
ter  for  the  security  of  the  equal  rights  and  immunities  of 
the  colonists  was  referred  to  in  a  petition  to  the  company 
that  the  stipulation  might  not  be  violated.  The  authority 
of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  colony  was  confirmed. 
Attendance  on  church  twice  on  Sunday  wras  required. 
Measures  were  passed  looking  toward  the  founding  of 
a  college.  Each  settlement  was  directed  to  see  to  the 
education  and  religious  instruction  of  the  natives.  In 
accordance  with  the  political  ideas  of  that  period,  laws 
were  enacted  to  prevent  extravagance  in  dress  ;  also,  the 
price  at  which  tobacco  should  be  sold  was  prescribed. 
Tobacco  was  made  the  legal  currency.  It  became  the 
custom  to  fix  the  amount  of  taxes,  fines,  stipends  of  every 
sort,  at  so  many  pounds  of  tobacco.  In  this  very  year, 
when  the  earliest  popular  Assembly  was  convened,  and 
within  a  month  after  it  met,  the  first  negro  Negro  s!avea 
slaves  were  introduced  by  a  Dutch  man-of-  introduced, 
war.  In  this  year,  along  with  twelve  hundred  settlers, 
there  were  sent  one  hundred  convicts  to  become  ser 
vants.  An  apprentice  system  was  introduced.  Boys  and 
girls  who  were  picked  up  in  the  streets  of  London  were 
shipped  to  Virginia  to  be  bound  during  their  minority  to 
the  planters.  It  is  more  agreeable  to  record  that  gener 
ous  gifts  were  made  in  England  of  money  and  land  to 
the  college  at  Henrico. 

In  July,  1620,  the  population  of  the  colony  was  esti 
mated  at  four  thousand.  The  quantity  of  tobacco  ex 
ported  increased  rapidly  from  year  to  j'ear.  But,  in 
1621,  England  set  up  a  monopoly  in  trade  with  the  col- 


44  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

onies.  Tobacco  could  no  longer  be  exported  directly 
to  the  Netherlands.  The  trade  with  the  Dutch  was  cut 
Growth  of  the  off-  Two  leaders  in  the  Virginia  Company, 

colony.  gir  Edwin  Sandys  and  Nicholas  Ferrar,  were 
especially  active  in  promoting  emigration.  The  liber 
ation  of  the  planters  from  their  service  to  the  company, 
and  the  ownership  of  the  land  by  them,  increased  greatly 
the  happiness  and  thrift  of  the  colony.  More  than  a 
thousand  persons  annually  joined  it.  The  discovery  was 
at  last  made  that  only  on  the  basis  of  family  life  could  a 
stable  and  prosperous  community  be  founded.  Ninety 
young  women  of  good  repute  were  shipped  to  Virginia 
at  the  expense  of  the  company,  and  they  were  followed 
later  by  another  band,  sixty  in  number. 

The  advent  of  Sir  Francis  Wyatt,  as  Governor,  in  1621, 
is  memorable  for  the  reason  tnaf  he  brought  with  him  a 
Wyatt:  a  wr^en  constitution  of  government.  It  was 
station  c°n~  ^rame^  on  *ne  model  of  the  English  system. 
The  Governor  and  the  Council  were  to  be  ap 
pointed  by  the  company.  For  the  acts  of  the  Assembly 
the  sanction  of  the  company  was  required  ;  the  orders  of 
the  company,  in  turn,  required  the  concurrence  of  the 
Assembly.  The  Assembly  was  to  meet  annually.  The 
right  of  veto  upon  its  enactments  was  given  to  the  Gov 
ernor.  The  right  of  trial  by  jury  was  confirmed.  We 
have  here,  in  its  main  outlines,  the  form  of  government 
that  was  to  be  established  in  the  American  colonies  gen 
erally. 

The  new  political  life  gave  a  fresh  impulse  to  agricul 
ture.  A  beginning  was  even  made  in  manufactures. 
The  great  interests  of  education  and  religion  attracted 
more  attention.  Fear  of  the  natives  was  passing  away. 
The  settlers  commonly  dwelt  not  in  hamlets,  but  in  dwel 
lings  apart  from  one  another.  The  large  farms  extended 
along  the  banks  of  the  rivers,  where  the  soil  was  adapted 


VIRGINIA   UNTIL    1688  45 

to  the  growth  of  the  tobacco  plant.  Powhatan,  the  friend 
of  the  English,  was  now  dead.  While  the  colonists  were 
growing  careless  and  unsuspicious,  the  natives  were  be 
coming  jealous  and  inimical.  Occasions  of  quarrel  were 
not  wanting.  At  noon  on  March  22,  1622,  the  Indians, 
who  were  banded  together  in  a  secret  conspiracy,  fell 
upon  the  whites  and  slew  three  hundred  and  jn(jjan  mas. 
forty-seven  persons  of  both  sexes  and  of  ev 
ery  age.  There  were  all  the  circumstances  of  barbar 
ity  that  commonly  attend  an  Indian  massacre.  The  re 
sult  was  that  many  of  the  plantations  were  abandoned. 
Some  of  the  colonists  returned  to  England.  Where  there 
had  been  four  thousand  inhabitants  only  twenty-five  hun 
dred  were  left. 

This  crushing  blow  was  followed  in  about  two  years  by 
what  appeared  to  be  a  dire  calamity,  the  annulling  of  the 
charter.  This  catastrophe  was  in  a  great  Annulling 
degree  the  result  of  the  intrigues  of  Spain. 
These  began  much  earlier  than  1612,  the  date 
that  has  been  assigned  for  their  beginning.  The  ar 
chives  of  Simancas  reveal  the  fact  that  from  the  in 
ception  of  the  Virginia  Colony  the  eyes  of  the  Spanish 
Government  were  upon  it,  and  its  efforts  directed  to  the 
prevention  of  the  movement  and  the  destruction  of  the 
infant  settlement.  The  Spanish  ambassador  in  Eng 
land,  Zuniga,  obeyed  his  instructions  to  watch  the  en 
terprise  and  to  use  all  exertions  to  move  the  king  ac 
tively  to  discountenance  it.  On  January  24,  1607,  Zufriga 
wrote  to  Philip  HI.  informing  him  of  the  projected  settle* 
ment  in  Virginia.  He  judged  that  the  design  of  it  was 
piracy.  It  was  intended  to  provide  the  means  of  captur 
ing  his  Christian  Majesty's  merchant  ships.  This  in 
ference  was  excusable,  considering  what  an  amount  of 
this  sort  of  privateering  there  had  been  in  the  past,  and 
in  view  of  the  circumstance  that  the  colony  was  to  be 


46  THE  COLONIAL  ERA 

composed  of  men  only.  On  October  8th  he  wrote  again, 
that,  as  he  had  been  directed,  he  had  seen  James,  who 
said  that  he  "had  not  particularly  known  what  was  go 
ing  on."  He  did  not  like  explicitly  to  prohibit  the  plant 
ing  of  the  settlement,  as  it  would  be  taken  as  a  recogni 
tion  of  the  Spanish  king  as  lord  of  all  the  Indies,  which 
he  was  not  prepared  to  go  so  far  as  to  concede.  James 
was  conciliatory,  but  not  very  definite.  If  anything  wrong 
were  done  by  English  emigrants,  Spain  might  punish 
them,  and  they  would  not  be  protected.  On  October 
16th  Zuiiiga  wrote  :  "  It  will  be  serving  God  and  Y.  M. 
[Your  Majesty]  to  drive  these  villains  out  from  there, 
hanging  them  in  time  which  is  short  enough  for  the  pur 
pose."  The  colonists  had  landed  at  Jamestown  on  May 
13th.  The  ambassador  constantly  prods  his  master, 
urging  the  expediency  of  immediately  destroying  the  new 
settlement.  Thus,  on  April  12,  1609,  he  writes  :  "  I 
hope  you  will  give  orders  to  have  these  insolent  people 
quickly  annihilated."  Spain  sent  spies  to  Virginia,  but 
when  they  were  arrested  there,  demanded  and  procured 
from  the  English  Government  their  release,  falsely  as 
serting  that  they  were  innocent  of  the  charge  made 
against  them.  But  no  open  attack  was  made  on  the  col 
ony.  This  was  not  deemed  to  be  politic.  The  Spanish 
Government  thought  that  it  was  likely  to  perish  of  itself. 
At  a  later  time,  when  it  was  James's  ambition  to  marry 
Prince  Charles  to  a  Spanish  princess,  Gondomar,  then 
the  ambassador  of  Spain,  found  that  his  intrigues  against 
the  Virginia  Company  found  favor  in  the  English  Court. 

Besides  the  desire  to  please  Spain,  James  did  not  relish 
the  resistance  that  was  offered  to  his  attempts  to  control 
the  action  of  the  company,  especially  in  their  not  ap 
pointing  as  officers  the  persons  whom  he  took  it  into  his 
hands  to  nominate.  His  displeasure  was  heightened  when 
Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  who  belonged  to  the  Parliamentary  op- 


VIRGINIA    UNTIL   1688  47 

position,  was  elected  as  their  treasurer,  and  when  the  Earl 
of  Southampton,  who  was  equally  obnoxious,  was  made 
his  successor,  at  the  expiration  of  Sandys's 
term.  There  was  a  controversy  with  the  king  hostility e  \  o 
occasioned  by  the  rapidly  increasing  importa 
tion  of  tobacco.  James  demanded  more  than  the  five  per 
cent,  to  which  he  was  entitled.  The  prohibition  of  the 
sale  of  this  product  to  the  Dutch  was  an  incident  in  this 
dispute.  There  came  to  be  two  parties  in  the  part:esinthe 
company,  the  Court  party  and  their  antagon-  company. 
ists.  The  meetings  grew  to  be  scenes  of  angry  debate. 
Whatever  was  unfortunate  and  unpromising  in  the  condi 
tion  of  the  colony  was  made  to  serve  as  an  argument  for 
abrogating  the  charter.  Especially  the  lack  of  mission 
ary  labor  for  the  conversion  and  education  of  the  In 
dians — which  was  partly  due  to  the  ill-success  of  iron 
works  in  the  colony,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  to  be 
applied  to  that  purpose — was  made  a  ground  of  reproach 
and  accusation.  Commissioners  were  sent  to  Virginia 
to  hunt  up  materials  of  attack.  The  company  fought 
steadily  against  the  endeavor  of  the  Court  to  wrest  from 
it  the  charter,  and  availed  itself  of  whatever  legal  weap 
ons  it  could  lay  hold  of.  But  the  judges  were  sub 
servient  to  the  Crown,  and,  on  June  16,  1624,  the  charter 
was  annulled  by  a  judicial  decree.  Virginia  passed  under 
the  immediate,  absolute  control  of  the  king.  The  com 
pany  was  reduced  to  a  powerless  trading  corporation. 
Southampton  took  the  precaution  to  have  the  records 
copied,  and  these  authentic  monuments  of  its  honorable 
history  are  now  in  the  Library  of  Congress. 

The  process  by  which  the  Virginia  Company  was 
robbed  of  its  charter  was  marked  by  the  sort  of  knavery 
that  characterized  James's  method  of  government,  and 
which  was  styled  king-craft.  Iniquitous  as  the  act  was, 
and  seemingly  disastrous,  it  really  operated  to  strengthen 


48  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

rather  than  to  hinder  the  development  of  popular  gov 
ernment  in  the  colony.  Probably  it  was  left  more  to 
Effect  of  manage  its  own  affairs  than  it  would  have 
lily  ofTh  e  been  had  ii;  remained  subject  to  an  English 
charter.  corporation. 

In  1625,  Charles  I.  issued  a  proclamation  by  which 
two  Councils  were  constituted,  one  in  England  and 
one  in  Virginia.  The  Governor  and  the  Councils  were 
to  be  appointed  by  the  king.  Arbitrary  as  the  new 
form  of  government  was  in  theory,  there  was  in  fact 
not  much  interference  with  the  local  Assembly.  There 
was  a  rapid  increase  in  prosperity.  In  1629,  the  popu 
lation  rose  to  the  number  of  five  thousand.  In  1630, 
Sir  John  Harvey  was  appointed  Governor. 
He  had  been  one  of  the  commissioners  sent 
out  to  the  colony,  and  on  that  account  was  unpopu 
lar.  A  dispute  concerning  boundaries  arose,  in  conse 
quence  of  the  claim  by  the  founder  of  Maryland  to  the 
territory  on  which  were  the  trading  posts  established  by 
William  Claiborne.  Harvey  gave  great  offence  by  taking 
sides  with  Maryland.  Such  wras  the  resentment  of  the 
people  that  the  Council  took  away  from  him  his  office, 
and  sent  him  to  England  to  answer  the  charges  against 
him.  The  king  decided  in  his  favor,  and  after  an  ab 
sence  of  a  year  and  a  half  he  resumed  his  station  He 
Wyatt :  Ber-  was  superseded,  in  1639,  by  Sir  Francis  Wyatt. 

keiey.  Wyatt  was  succeeded  in  1642  by  Sir  William 
Berkeley.  Berkeley  was  instructed  to  keep  out  innova 
tions  in  religion.  By  a  law  passed  in  1623,  absence  from 
church  was  punished  by  a  fine  of  a  hogshead  of  tobacco. 
But  the  people  themselves  were  generally  opposed  to  dis 
sent  from  the  established  faith  and  order.  In  1642,  in 
compliance  with  an  earnest  request,  signed  by  seventy- 
one  persons  belonging  to  several  parishes,  three  Congre 
gational  ministers  were  sent  to  Virginia  from  Boston. 


VIRGINIA   UNTIL   1688  49 

They  reported  a  considerable  measure  of  success,  but  an 
act  of  the  Assembly  expelled  them  from  the  colony. 
The  use  of  the  Prayer  Book  was  required  in  Non.conf0rm- 
every  church.  Opposition  to  the  established  "tacxpeLed. 
religion  was  put  down  by  imprisoning  and  banishing  all 
Non-conformists.  They  found  refuge  in  Maryland. 

After  the  execution  of  Charles  I.  loyal  messages  were 
sent  to  Charles  II.  in  Holland.  Acts  were  passed  at 
taching  penalties  to  all  expressions  of  disrespect  to  the 
late  king,  or  disputing  the  right  of  his  son  to  inherit 
the  Crown.  Parliament  sent  commissioners  in  a  fleet 
to  bring  the  refractory  colony  to  terms.  The  com 
missioners  had  no  difficulty  in  coming  to  an  Virginia 
agreement  with  the  Governor  and  Council  and  KcSmnaS 
the  House  of  Burgesses.  There  was  to  be  no  wealth- 
punishment  inflicted  for  loyalty  to  the  fallen  house  in 
the  past,  no  abridgment  of  territorial  rights,  no  restric- 
sion  of  commercial  rights  which  was  not  likewise  im- 
possd  on  English-born  subjects.  The  Burgesses,  it  was 
further  agreed,  should  elect  the  Governor  and  Council, 
although  it  was  allowed  to  the  commissioners  to  nomin 
ate  a  Governor  and  Secretary — their  act,  however,  not 
to  serve  as  a  precedent.  Richard  Bennet  was  chosen 
Governor,  and  Clayborne  Secretary.  There  was  no  mani 
fest  ition  of  ill-will  or  excitement  on  either  side. 

After  the  abdication  of  Richard  Cromwell,  Berkeley 
was  re-elected  Governor  by  the  Assembly,  but  under  such 
conditions  as  preserved  its  prerogatives.  This 
body  was  now,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
clothed  with  sovereignty.  On  the  restoration  of  Charles 
H.  a  royal  commission  was  transmitted  to  Berkeley. 
Humble  petitions  were  sent  to  the  king  to  Recog:nition 
pardon  the  submission  which,  under  cornpul-  of  Charles  11. 
sion,  had  been  yielded  to  the  Comrdonwealth.  It  was  or 
dained  that  the  anniversary  of  his  father's  death  should 
4 


60  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

be  observed  with  prayer  and  fasting.  The  local  rulers  in 
the  interval  between  Berkeley's  retirement  and  his  re-elec 
tion  had  been  men  of  Puritan  proclivities.  The  enact 
ments  against  dissent  from  the  Church  of  England  were 
now  sharpened.  A  tax  was  levied  on  every  one  for  its 
support.  The  control  in  ecclesiastical  matters  was  put 
in  the  hands  of  twelve  vestrymen  in  each  parish,  who 
were  to  fill  their  own  vacancies.  Non-conformists  were 
forbidden  to  teach.  The  form  set  forth  in  the  Prayer 
Book  must  be  used  at  every  marriage.  Even  Quakers 
were  subjected  to  a  fine  for  not  attending  the  Established 
Church.  Heavy  fines  were  imposed  on  shipmasters  who 
should  bring  Quakers  into  the  colony,  and  on  all  persons 
who  should  "entertain  them"  in  or  near  their  houses 
"to  teach  or  preach." 

In  1661  the  English  Navigation  Law  was  made  more  re 
strictive.  Laws  limiting  foreign  trade  had  been  passed 
English  Navi-  as  eai'ly  as  the  reign  of  Eichard  II.  It  was 
gationLaws.  ordained  at  that  time  that  no  merchandise 
should  be  shipped  out  of  the  realm,  except  in  English  ves 
sels,  on  pain  of  forfeiture.  There  were  enactments  of  a 
like  character  under  Henry  VH.  and  Elizabeth.  It  was 
maintained  by  Virginia  that  her  charter  authorized  her 
to  trade  freely  with  foreign  nations.  The  Navigation 
Act,  the  passage  of  which  marks  an  epoch  in  American 
colonial  history,  was  passed  in  1651,  under  Cromwell. 
In  the  time  of  James  I.,  when  the  English  naval  strength 
fell  to  the  lowest  point,  the  Dutch  developed  their  power 
on  the  sea,  and  not  only  inflicted  there  heavy  blows  on 
Spain,  but  absorbed  the  carrying  trade  which,  under 
other  circumstances,  would  have  been  enjoyed  by  Eng 
land.  When  Cromwell  became  the  head  of  the  govern 
ment,  the  old  ambition  which  the  heroes  of  Elizabeth's 
time  had  cherished,  of  making  England  the  mistress  of  a 
great  naval  dominion,  revived.  The  law  of  1651  prohib- 


VIRGINIA   UNTIL   1688  51 

ited  the  carrying  of  the  products  of  England  to  the  colo 
nies  except  in  English  or  colonial  vessels,  which,  more 
over,  must  have  an  English  captain  and  crew.  This  new 
policy  brought  on  war  between  the  English  and  their 
Dutch  neighbors.  The  issue  of  the  struggle  was  that 
Cromwell  dictated  the  terms  of  peace.  In  1660,  the  first 
Pcirliament  of  Charles  II.  passed  an  act  which  added  two 
new  clauses  to  the  law  of  1651.  Enumerated  articles  —  su 
gar,  tobacco,  indigo,  and  others  —  were  to  be  shipped  to 
no  country  but  England.  No  alien  was  allowed  to  es 
tablish  himself  as  a  merchant  or  factor  in  the  colonies. 
Finally,  in  1663,  it  was  enacted  that  European  products 
should  not  be  received  in  the  colonies  from  foreign  ves 
sels.  The  complete  monopoly  of  commerce  with  the  col 
onies  was  thus  given  over  to  English  merchants.  The 
effect  was  almost  to  destroy  the  trade  of  Virginia. 

In  1671,  Berkeley  made  answer  to  a  series  of  inquiries 
which  had  been  sent  to  him  respecting  the  condition  of 
the  colony  by  the  Commissioners  of  Foreign 
Plantations.     In  this  document  he  describes  tion  of  vir- 


the  condition  of  Virginia  as  it  was  in  1670.  The 
population  was  forty  thousand.  There  were  two  thousand 
negro  slaves  and  six  thousand  white  servants.  The  free 
men  were  drilled  in  military  exercises  once  a  month,  in 
their  respective  counties,  and  were  thought  to  be  "  near 
eight  thousand  horse."  There  had  never  been  an  engi 
neer  in  the  country,  and  the  five  forts  on  the  rivers  were 
ill-constructed.  Every  man,  according  to  his  ability, 
taught  his  own  children.  There  were  forty-eight  parishes, 
and  the  ministers  were  well  paid.  "The  clergy,"  adds  the 
Governor,  "  by  my  consent,  would  be  better  if  they  would 
pray  oftener  and  preach  less.  But  of  all  other  commodi 
ties,  so  of  this,  the  worst  are  sent  us.  ...  But,  I 
thank  God,  there  are  no  free  schools  nor  printing,  and 
I  hope  we  shall  not  have  these  hundred  years."  Learn- 


52  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

ing  and  printing  Berkeley  pronounces  the  patrons  and 
promoters  of  heresies  and  sects,  and  of  libels  on  govern 
ment.  As  late  as  1682,  one  Buckner,  who  ventured  to 
print  the  laws  of  1G80,  was  put  under  bonds  "  not  to  print 
anything  thereafter  until  His  Majesty's  pleasure  should 
be  known." 

In  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  as  titular 
king,  he  showed  his  good-nature  and  lack  of  conscience 
Grant  to  *n  a  characteristic  way  by  making  a  grant  of  a 
and1  cuipep-  Porti°n  of  Virginia,  amounting  to  one-third  of 
Per-  its  territory,  to  certain  of  his  followers.  Their 

attempt  to  take  possession  of  the  territory  was,  for  va 
rious  reasons  which  are  not  fully  known,  given  up,  and 
the  grant  was  restored  to  the  king.  But  he  proceeded, 
in  1673,  to  give  all  Virginia,  for  the  term  of  thirty-one 
years,  to  two  unworthy  favorites — Lord  Arlington  and 
Lord  Culpepper.  The  patentees  were  empowered  to 
make  grants  of  land,  with  the  reservation  of  quit-rents. 
Land-surveyers  and  sheriffs  were  to  be  appointed  by 
them.  All  the  Church  patronage  was  placed  under  their 
control.  By  the  terms  of  this  reckless  grant  all  the  ex 
isting  titles  to  land  were  rendered  insecure.  The  colo 
nists  resisted,  and  a  compromise  wras  made,  in  which  it 
was  conceded  that  their  titles  should  stand.  They  sent 
a  deputation,  composed  of  three  persons,  to  England,  to 
look  after  their  imperilled  rights  and  interests.  The  col 
ony  had  a  fair  prospect  of  obtaining  a  charter,  when  news 
arrived  of  serious  disturbances  in  Virginia.  There  were  a 
number  of  grievances  of  which  loud  complaint  was  made. 
One  was  the  revival  of  a  law  which  confined  the  suffrage 
to  landholders  and  householders.  After  1660,  there  was 
for  a  long  period  no  election  of  burgesses,  but  the  leg 
islature  was  kept  in  existence  by  being  prolonged  from 
time  to  time. 

In  1674,  there  were  signs  of  a  revolt,  but  the  disaffec- 


VIRGINIA   UNTIL   1688  53 

tion  was  for  the  moment  appeased  by  some  concessions. 
The  troubles  with  the  Indians  became  threatening.  The 
legislation  of  the  colony  respecting  them  had  Troub]es 
been  just  and  humane.  In  1676,  however,  with  the  in- 
difnculties  sprang  up  between  certain  plant 
ers  and  the  Doegs,  a  tribe  on  that  river.  In  the  fight 
ing  that  followed,  there  was  a  flagrant  instance  of  bad 
faith  in  the  treatment  of  six  chiefs,  who  were  killed 
near  an  Indian  hut  at  the  head  of  the  Potomac.  The 
hostility  of  the  savages  spread,  but  no  efficient  measures 
were  taken  by  Berkeley  to  protect  the  lives  of  the  people, 
many  of  whom  were  slain  in  attacks  which  they  could 
not  foresee  or  guard  against.  At  last,  in  1676,  the  As 
sembly  declared  war  against  the  Indians,  but  when  a 
force  of  five  hundred  men,  which  had  been  raised,  was  on 
the  point  of  marching  against  them,  the  troops,  by  order 
of  the  Governor,  were  suddenly  disbanded.  The  people, 
left  defenceless,  and  finding  their  petitions  disregarded, 
although  murders  were  constantly  committed  by  their 
wily,  incensed  foes,  found  a  leader  in  the  per-  Bacon,g  re_ 
son  of  Nathaniel  Bacon,  Jr.  Bacon  was  con-  beiiion. 
nected  with  the  celebrated  English  family  of  that  name, 
and  on  coming  over  to  Virginia  had  been  made  one  of 
the  Council.  He  was  a  rich  planter,  courageous,  and  elo 
quent  in  speech.  If  he  needed  any  special  stimulus  to 
action,  it  was  found  in  the  fact  that  his  overseer  and  one 
of  his  favorite  servants  were  killed  by  the  savages  on  his 
plantation  near  the  site  of  Richmond.  Being  denied  a 
military  commission  from  Berkeley,  he  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  five  hundred  volunteers,  and  went  against  the 
enemy.  He  and  his  men  were  proclaimed  as  traitors  by 
the  Governor.  Bacon  responded  in  a  declaration,  in  which 
Berkeley,  in  turn,  was  denounced  as  a  tyrant  and  a  trai 
tor.  The  revolt  became  general  in  the  lower  counties. 
A  new  Assembly  was  convoked.  Bacon  was  elected  as 


54  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

a  member.  On  his  way-  to  Jamestown  he  was  arrested, 
but  was  set  free  on  parole.  He  presented  a  confession 
and  apology  to  the  Assembly,  was  pardoned,  and  was 
again  received  into  the  Council.  The  reform  meas 
ures  passed  by  the  Assembly  are  the  best  disclosure 
we  have  of  the  aims  of  Bacon  and  his  party.  There 
were  laws  against  illegal  and  excessive  fees  to  offi 
cers,  and  requiring  the  yearly  election  of  sheriffs  and 
their  assistants.  The  act  limiting  the  franchise  was  re 
pealed.  To  the  Assembly  was  given  the  exclusive  right 
to  levy  certain  taxes  which  the  county  magistrates 
had  imposed.  Bacon  believed  that  the  Governor  had 
formed  a  plot  against  his  life.  Accordingly  he  left 
Jamestown,  but  came  back  in  a  few  days,  with  a  force  of 
four  hundred  men  to  sustain  him.  Berkeley  found  it 
impossible  to  rally  the  militia  to  withstand  him.  The 
Governor  then  gave  him  a  commission,  the  Assembly 
made  him  general  of  their  forces,  and  he  marched  once 
more  against  the  Indians.  Once  more  he  was  proclaimed 
as  a  traitor.  Once  more  he  returned,  and  Berkeley  fled 
to  Accomack.  Bacon  called  together  a  meeting  of  the 
principal  gentlemen  of  the  colony  for  the  purpose  of 
adopting  means  for  resisting  the  tyranny  of  Berkeley, 
and  of  subduing  the  Indians.  In  reply  to  the  proclama 
tion  of  the  Governor  he  published  a  spirited  vindication  of 
his  proceedings.  Again  he  set  forth  to  make  war  upon  the 
Indians.  Hostilities  now  began  between  the  supporters 
of  Berkeley  and  the  party  of  Bacon.  In  the  absence  of 
the  latter,  some  advantages  were  gained  by  the  Governor. 
When  Bacon  had  succeeded  in  his  expedition,  he  came 
back  to  Jamestown ;  but,  probably  for  the  reason  that  he 
was  not  strong  enough  to  hold  it,  he  burned  the  state- 
house  and  the  few  dwelling-houses  which  constituted  the 
village.  At  this  critical  juncture  Bacon  fell  sick  and 
died.  The  insurgents  lost  heart,  and  their  forces  were 


VIRGINIA   UNTIL   1688  55 

broken  up.  It  is  possible  that  an  impression  that  Bacon's 
movement  was  advancing  too  far,  and  was  likely  to  bring 
on  a  conflict  with  the  mother  country,  may  Defeat  of  Ba- 
have  already  thinned  their  ranks.  Berkeley  cou's  party< 
was  now  dominant.  He  had  the  support  of  a  regiment 
of  troops  which  arrived  on  February  29,  1677. 

Berkeley  associated  with  himself  two  commissioners  to 
try  the  rebels.  He  was  sustained  by  the  Assembly  which 
was  elected  at  the  beginning  of  the  year.  "Bacon's  laws" 
were  repealed,  although  many  of  them  were  at  a  later  time 
re-enacted.  The  Governor  was  unsparing  in  the  infliction 
of  punishments  on  the  insurgents.  Many  were  thrown 
into  prison.  Not  less  than  twenty-three  were  executed. 
To  Drummond,  the  principal  counsellor  of  Bacon,  the 
vindictive  old  Governor  said  :  "  Mr.  Drummond,  you  are 
very  welcome  ;  I  am  more  glad  to  see  you  than  any  man 
in  Virginia  ;  you  shall  be  hanged  in  half  an  hour."  When 
the  news  of  the  insurrection  reached  England,  three  com 
missioners  with  five  hundred  soldiers  were  sent  to  the 
colony.  They  immediately  found  themselves  in  collision 
with  the  Governor,  who  was  obstinately  bent  on  carrying 
out  his  severe  measures,  which  the  Assembly  deprecated 
and  protested  against.  He  had  requested  to  be  recalled, 
and  finally  yielded  to  the  summons  to  carry  Recall  of 
out  his  request.  Soon  after  his  return  to  Eng-  Berkeley, 
land  he  died.  In  the  last  two  years  of  his  official  service, 
his  despotic  temper,  embittered  apparently  by  the  recol 
lection  of  the  mortification  he  had  suffered  at  the  triumph 
of  the  anti-royalist  party,  and  by  his  opposition  to  the  pop 
ular  will,  effaced  the  impression  which  had  been  made  by 
him  at  an  earlier  time.  How  far  Bacon  was  disposed  to 
carry  the  rebellion,  whether  he  had  thoughts  of  making 
Virginia  independent,  and  to  what  extent  his  measures 
sprung  from  his  own  brain,  or  were  inspired  by  abettors, 
possibly  wiser  than  himself,  are  problems  not  yet  solved. 


56  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

After  Berkeley's  recall,  the  office  of  Governor  was  held 
for  a  short  time,  first  by  Sir  Herbert  Jeffreys,  and  then 
cuipepper's  ^y  Sir  Henry  Chichely.  Early  in  1680,  Cul- 

rufe.  pepper  assumed  the  office  to  which,  in  1675,  he 
had  been  appointed  for  life.  The  franchise  was  to  be 
again  limited.  Assemblies  were  to  be  summoned  only  by 
the  Crown,  and  were  to  have  no  power  in  the  making  of 
laws,  except  to  reject  or  accept  enactments  submitted  to 
them,  after  they  had  been  framed  and  approved  by  the 
Governor  and  Council,  and  by  the  king.  It  was  ordained 
that  there  were  to  be  no  appeals  to  the  Assembly,  and 
none  to  the  king  in  Council,  except  in  cases  where  the 
value  of  one  hundred  pounds  was  involved.  Culpepper 
made  it  clear  that  his  main  end  was  to  enrich  himself. 
The  people  were  restless  ;  he  grew  weary  of  his  office  and 
returned  to  England.  The  iniquitous  grant  to  Arlington 
and  Culpepper  was  revoked,  and  in  July,  1683, 

Virginia    TT.       .    .  ^  i  - 

a?ain  a  roy-  Virginia  once  more  became  a  royal  province. 
The  successor  of  Culpepper,  Lord  Howard  of 
Effingham,  had  his  faults,  with  none  of  his  virtues.  He 
asserted  that  he  had  the  right  to  annul  the  acts  of  the  As 
sembly  at  his  discretion.  He  was  directed  to  allow  no 
printing-press  in  Virginia.  In  1685,  after  the  accession  of 
James  H.,  the  Assembly  was  dissolved  by  royal  proclama 
tion,  for  questioning  his  right  to  negative  the  repeal  of  laws, 
and  to  restore  the  laws  which  were  thus  abolished.  One  of 
the  members  was  imprisoned  and  put  in  irons  for  using 
expressions  that  were  pronounced  treasonable.  In  April, 
1689,  by  order  of  the  Council,  the  accession  of  William 
and  Mary  wras  proclaimed  in  Virginia,  and  a  new  era  in 
its  history  began. 

The  subject  of  negro  slavery  in  Virginia  demands  a 
more  particular  notice.  It  was  from  humane  motives, 
however  delusive,  that  the  first  Africans  had  been  brought 
to  America.  Las  Casas,  the  devoted  and  benevolent  mis- 


VIRGINIA   UNTIL   1688  57 

sionary  bishop,  sanctioned  the  bringing  of  negroes  to 
Hispaniola  to  take  the  place  of  Indians,  who  were  quickly 
worn  out  by  the  exhausting  toil  in  the  mines.  Neo.ro  Bia- 
He  lived  to  see  the  error  that  he  had  com 
mitted  and  to  repent  of  it.  Indians  were  frequently 
seized  by  slavers  on  the  American  coast.  "There  was 
hardly  a  convenient  harbor  on  the  frontier  of  the  United 
States  which  was  not  entered  by  slavers."  Scruples  were 
seldom  felt  in  regard  to  the  kidnapping  and  enslavement 
of  Africans,  and  such  was  the  force  of  cupidity  that  they 
were  smothered  when  they  arose.  Sir  John  Hawkins 
brought  over  from  Guinea  to  the  West  Indies  three 
cargoes  of  blacks,  the  first  in  1562,  and  the  third  in 
1567.  Eeference  has  been  made  to  the  first  introduction 
of  negroes  into  Virginia,  in  1619.  Says  John  Rolfe,  in 
Smith's  "  General  History :  "  "  About  the  last  of  August 
caine  in  a  Dutch  man-of-warre  that  sold  us  twenty  Ne- 
gars."  It  was  long  before  slaves  became  numerous  in  the 
colony.  It  was  not  until  about  1650  that  the  number  of 
them  began  to  increase  rapidly.  The  stimulus  to  this  in 
crease  was  furnished  by  the  tobacco-culture.  The  over 
production  of  tobacco  was  attributed  to  the  undue  im 
portation  of  slaves.  It  was  enacted  in  1662  that,  con 
trary  to  the  English  law  as  to  serfdom,  children  should 
follow  the  condition  of  the  mother.  The  conse-  The  siave. 
quence  was  that  mulatto  children  were  slaves. 
The  idea  had  long  been  cherished  in  Christendom  that 
heathen,  but  not  Christians,  might  be  reduced  to  servi 
tude.  In  1667,  the  Virginia  Assembly  ordained  that 
conversion  and  baptism  should  not  operate  to  set  the 
slave  free.  To  kill  a  slave  by  severity  of  punishment  was 
to  subject  the  master  to  the  charge  of  felony,  as  the  in 
tent  to  kill  in  such  a  case  could  not  be  presupposed. 
Civil  disabilities  were  imposed  on  free  negroes.  In  1682, 
the  slave-code  became  more  stringent.  No  slave  could 


58  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

leave  a  plantation  without  a  written  pass  from  his  master. 
Slaves  were  forbidden  to  carry  arms,  or  to  use  force 
against  a  Christian,  even  in  self-defence.  A  runaway 
slave  who  refused  to  surrender  might  be  shot.  In  1687, 
it  was  discovered  that  a  negro  plot  was  brewing.  Then 
followed  enactments  of  extreme  severity,  verifying  the  max 
im  that  cruelty  is  the  offspring  of  fear.  These  codes  do 
not  imply,  however,  that  slaves,  as  a  rule,  were  ill-treated 
or  cut  off  from  sources  of  enjoyment.  The  amalgamation 
of  the  races  was  forbidden  under  heavy  penalties. 

When  we  seek  to  ascertain  the  social  condition  of  the 
Southern  colonies  we  are  embarrassed  by  the  dearth  of 
Society  in  contemporary  literature.  The  contrast  with 
Virginia.  New  England  in  this  respect  is  very  marked. 
The  natural  advantages  possessed  by  Virginia,  the  leading 
colony  among  them,  from  its  noble  rivers,  its  ample  har 
bors,  its  fruitful  soil,  its  varied  and  beautiful  scenery,  and 
its  agreeable  climate,  were  such  as  to  make  the  outward 
conditions  of  life  all  that  could  be  desired.  The  means 
of  subsistence  were  easy  to  be  procured.  Few  who  had 
once  established  themselves  within  its  limits  desired  to 
spend  their  days  elsewhere.  Although  vagabonds  and 
convicts  had  been  sent  over  to  the  colony  from  time  to 
time,  they,  after  all,  constituted  but  a  minor  fraction  of 
the  people,  who,  as  a  body,  were  of  good  English  stock. 
The  convicts  themselves  wrere,  some  of  them,  political 
offenders,  who  might  not  be  tainted  with  vice,  or  lack  the 
qualities  of  most  value  in  emigrants.  Such  as  were  of  a 
different  character,  according  to  a  familiar  experience  in 
settlements,  might  do  well  when  transplanted  to  a  new 
country.  The  tendency  was  to  eliminate  the  hopelessly 
Effect  of  to-  idle  and  depraved.  The  circumstance  that  to- 
bacco-cuiture.  i3acco  was  the  staple  product,  owing  to  the  ease 
with  which  it  was  cultivated  and  the  profits  derived  from 
its  production,  had  a  very  great,  and,  in  many  respects, 


VIRGINIA   UNTIL   1688  59 

a  deleterious  influence  on  civilization  in  Virginia.  The 
fields  on  which  this  plant  grew  were  soon  worn  out,  and  it 
was  easier  to  transfer  its  cultivation  to  new  lands  than  to 
fertilize  the  old.  The  culture  of  tobacco  being  so  profit 
able,  the  diversifying  of  industry  was  prevented.  The 
cereals  were  raised  only  so  far  as  was  absolutely  neces 
sary  for  the  subsistence  of  the  inhabitants.  Efforts  to 
prevent  the  over-production  of  tobacco,  by  what  was 
called  a  "  stint " — that  is,  a  limiting  of  production  for 
single  years — were  in  the  main  unsuccessful.  The  result, 
on  the  whole,  was  that  Virginia  was  kept  from  becoming 
what  it  might  have  been,  one  of  the  richest  of  agricultu 
ral  communities.  The  planters  livpd  by  themselves  on 
their  estates,  and  became  more  and  more  fond  of  this 
sort  of  life.  There  was  no  urban  life.  Jamestown  re 
mained  a  petty  village  ;  Williamsburg,  when  it  became  the 
capital,  contained  few  dwellings.  The  house  of  the  chief 
magistrate  was  dignified  by  the  name  of  the  "Governor's 
Palace."  The  Government  undertook  to  found  towns  by 
legal  enactments,  but  they  amounted  to  little  more  than 
"  paper  towns."  At  best  they  were  insignificant  hamlets 
where  the  courts  were  held.  Reference  has  already  been 
made  to  Berkeley's  account  of  the  colony  in  1671.  We 
have  a  realistic  description  of  it,  ten  years  later,  which  is 
attributed  to  the  pen  of  Lord  Culpepper.  He  Virginia  in 
represented  commerce,  manufactures,  educa 
tion,  and  government,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  as  in 
a  miserable  condition.  Merchants  were  more  prosperous 
than  any  other  class,  but  they  were  compelled  to  sell  on 
credit,  and  to  carry  on  "a  pitiful  retail  trade."  The 
planter  could  send  out  yearly  in  a  ship  his  yield  of  to 
bacco,  and  receive  back  at  his  door,  by  the  same  means, 
everything  that  he  could  not  raise,  and  even  common 
household  utensils.  Work  that  absolutely  required  the 
labor  of  mechanics  at  home,  was  done  on  his  own  farm, 


60  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

frequently  by  negroes.  The  Governor  discharged  multi 
farious  offices.  He  was  Commander  and  Vice-Admiral, 
Lord  Treasurer,  Lord  Chancellor,  and  Chief  Justice,  with 
certain  powers,  also,  that  belong  to  a  Bishop.  The  coun 
cillors,  whom  he  could  generally  control,  held  a  similar 
variety  of  offices.  The  County  Court  was  composed  of 
eight  or  ten  gentlemen,  having  no  education  in  law,  and 
receiving  annually  their  commissions  from  the  Governor. 
The  General  Court,  a  court  for  the  trial  of  the  most  im 
portant  causes,  and  for  the  hearing  of  appeals,  was  com 
posed  of  the  Governor  and  Council  as  judges.  Thus  the 
judicial  and  executive  offices  were  blended  in  the  same 
body.  The  taxes  for  the  support  of  the  church  and  of 
the  poor  were  assessed  each  year  by  the  vestry ;  the 
county  taxes  by  the  justices  of  peace  ;  and  the  public  levy 
bv  the  Assembly.  The  parishes,  since  they  paid 

The  parishes.       *  .    .    .  J  .    .         _*;.          .   ' 

the  ministers,  claimed  the  right  01  presenta 
tion,  and  could  exercise  it,  despite  the  Governor,  since 
they  could  refuse  to  pay  the  salary.  But  the  vestries,  as 
we  have  seen,  contrived  to  avoid  presentation  altogether 
by  hiring  the  ministers  from  year  to  year.  The  minis 
ters  were  thus  made  subservient  to  the  will  of  those  who 
employed  them.  There  were  good  men  among  the  min 
isters,  but  their  character  on  the  whole  was  not  such  as  to 
command  or  deserve  respect.  It  need  not  be  said  that 
they  were  the  champions  of  the  intolerant  spirit  that  pre 
vailed  toward  Dissenters.  The  number  of  parishes  was 
twice  as  great  as  the  number  of  the  clergy.  Lawyers 
were  not  held  in  esteem,  and  the  condition  of  the  med 
ical  profession  was  quite  low. 

The  distinguishing  element  which  merits  attention  in 
Virginian  society  was  the  aristocratic   class.     They  were 
The  aristoc-    ^ar  from  being  always  thrifty.     By  lavish  ex- 
racy,        penditures   and  by  anticipating  their  profits, 
they   often    needlessly   allowed    themselves    to    become 


VIRGINIA   UNTIL   1688  61 

involved  in  debt.  They  were  men  of  virile  character, 
capable  of  energetic  exertion,  with  the  spirit  and  the 
manners  to  be  expected  in  a  class  accustomed  to  com 
mand.  To  possess  numerous  horses,  and  horses  of  a 
choice  breed,  and — few  and  bad  as  the  roads  were — showy 
equipages,  was  a  prevalent  ambition.  The  loneliness  of 
the  life  of  the  rich  planters  on  their  estates,  and  their 
love  of  social  intercourse,  led  to  the  frequent  interchange 
of  visits  among  themselves,  and  to  the  exercise  of  a  lib 
eral  hospitality  to  strangers.  The  blending  of  high-bred 
courtesy  with  a  temper  impatient  of  an  affront  is  natural 
to  such  a  class.  Where  there  was  no  town  life,  the  means 
of  intellectual  cultivation  were  scanty.  Yet  there  is  evi 
dence  that,  even  in  the  seventeenth  century,  libraries, 
larger  or  smaller,  were  found  in  some  of  the  planters' 
houses.  There  was  one  subject — politics — from  which  the 
minds  of  the  aristocratic  class  were  seldom  withdrawn. 
In  political  discussions  and  struggles  the  intellect  of  the 
leaders  of  society  was  exercised  and  disciplined.  "  The 
Virginia  planter  was  essentially  a  transplanted  English 
man  in  tastes  and  convictions,  and  imitated  the  social 
amenities  and  the  culture  of  the  mother  country.  Thus 
in  time  was  formed  a  society  distinguished  for  its  refine 
ment,  executive  ability,  and  a  generous  hospitality  for 
which  the  Ancient  Dominion  is  proverbial."  If  we  under 
stand  by  "  Englishman "  the  ordinary  type  of  English 
country  gentleman,  and  make  due  allowance  for  the  effect 
of  remoteness  from  the  direct  influences  of  English  so 
ciety,  the  preceding  remarks  of  a  recent  Virginian  histori 
cal  writer  hold  good.  It  must  not  be  understood  that 
there  was  no  middle  class  in  Virginia.  There  were  the 
tradesmen,  and  there  were  the  proprietors  of  smaller 
farms,  who  were  possessed  of  fewer  slaves.  These  were 
separated  by  an  imperceptible  line  from  the  richer  and 
more  powerful  landowners. 


CHAPTER  V. 

MARYLAND   UNTIL   1688 

The  First  Lord  Baltimore— Avalon— Grant  of  Maryland — The 
Maryland  Charter— Religion  in  Maryland— Toleration— Clay- 
borne's  Settlement— The  Maryland  Colony— Conflict  with  Clay- 
borne — Period  of  the  Commonwealth — Non-conformists  in 
Maryland — Act  of  Religious  Freedom — Puritan  Ascendency — 
Baltimore  Regains  His  Province— Fendall— Slavery — Dispute 
withPenn — End  of  Proprietary  Government — Society  in  Mary 
land. 

THE  names  of  George  and  Cecilius  Calvert,  the  first 
Lord  Baltimore  and  his  son,  who  inherited  the  title,  are 
The  first  Lord  inseparably  associated  with  the  planting  of 
Baltimore.  Maryland.  George  Calvert  sprung  from  a  re 
spectable  family  in  Yorkshire.  He  was  educated  at  Oxford. 
He  early  made  the  acquaintance  of  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  and 
became  his  private  secretary.  After  the  death  of  Cecil  he 
was  advanced  by  the  special  favor  of  King  James  I,  and 
in  1617  was  raised  to  the  honor  of  knighthood.  He  sup 
ported  the  Spanish  policy  of  James,  and  was  a  prominent 
leader  of  the  monarchical  party  in  Parliament.  In  1619, 
he  was  appointed  one  of  the  principal  Secretaries  of 
State.  Two  years  later  he  received  a  grant  from  the  king 
of  a  manor  in  the  County  of  Longford,  Ireland,  and  later 
obtained  a  place  on  the  roll  of  the  Irish  peerage  under 
the  name  of  Lord  Baltimore.  His  moderate  temper  and 
habitual  courtesy  caused  him  to  be  generally  liked, 
although  his  political  course  had  been  distasteful  to  the 
popular  party  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Perseverance 


MARYLAND    UNTIL   1688  63 

in  carrying  out  his  plans,  with  no  display  of  enthusi 
asm,  characterized  him  through  life.  In  1625,  he  was 
converted  to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith.  For  years  he 
had  participated  in  the  growing  interest  that  was  felt  in 
schemes  of  colonization.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Virginia  Company,  and  in  1622  became  one  of  the  eigh 
teen  members  of  the  Council  for  New  England,  which 
succeeded  the  Plymouth  Company.  He  sent  out  colo 
nists  to  a  plantation  in  Newfoundland,  and  by  the  charter 
which  he  obtained  in  1623  he  acquired  a  palatinate,  or 
almost  royal  authority,  in  Avalon,  his  province 
in  the  southeastern  part  of  that  island.  Twice 
he  visited  his  American  dominions.  He  repelled,  bravely 
and  successfully,  attacks  of  the  French.  But  a  personal 
experience  of  the  hardships  of  a  winter  in  Avalon  con 
vinced  him  that  the  rigor  of  the  climate  was  too  great  to 
permit  the  hope  that  a  permanent  and  prosperous  settle 
ment  could  be  established  there.  In  a  letter  to  Charles  I, 
in  1629,  he  states  that  nothing  prevents  him  from  giving 
up  for  the  future  "  all  proceedings  in  plantations,"  except 
his  natural  inclination  to  "  these  kind  of  works."  Leaving 
Avalon,  he  embarked  for  Virginia,  whither  his  wife  had 
gone  before  him  ;  but  there  his  creed  stood  in  the  way  of 
a  gracious  welcome,  and  since  he  declined  to  take  the  oath 
of  supremacy,  because  the  terms  of  it  were  repugnant 
to  his  conscience  as  a  Roman  Catholic,  nothing  was  left 
for  him  but  to  return  to  England.  What  he  desired  was 
"  a  precinct "  of  land  in  Virginia.  This  he  obtained.  He 
died  two  months  before  the  charter  passed  the  seal,  and 
the  grant  was  made  to  his  son  Cecilius,  in  1632.  Grant  of 
The  territory  thus  bestowed  was  named  Mary-  Maryland, 
land,  in  honor  of  the  queen,  Henrietta  Maria.  Its  north 
ern  limit  was  the  southern  boundary  of  the  Plymouth 
Company's  grant,  the  fortieth  parallel ;  on  the  west  its 
limit  was  the  most  distant  fountain  of  the  Potomac. 


64  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

Thence  the  line  descended  southeast  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Potomac  to  a  specified  place,  Watkin's  Point,  whence 
it  ran  due  east  to  the  Atlantic.  The  charter  was  mod 
elled  on  that  of  Avalon,  and  was  of  the  most  liberal  char- 
The  charter  acter.  It  made  Baltimore  and  his  heirs  the 
of  Maryland,  proprietaries  of  the  territory,  which  was  to  be 
a  palatinate,  like  the  see  of  Durham  in  England.  That  is 
to  say,  the  prerogatives  of  the  proprietor  were  well-nigh 
regal.  He  was  simply  bound  to  pay  to  the  king  a  yearly 
rent  of  two  Indian  arrows,  in  acknowledgment  of  his 
feudal  subordination,  and  a  fifth  portion  of  whatever 
gold  and  silver  might  be  found  in  the  province.  He  was 
to  own  the  soil ;  to  exercise  the  powers  of  a  sovereign, 
both  civil  and  military  ;  to  levy  taxes  ;  to  confer  titles  and 
dignities,  under  a  system  of  sub-infeudation  ;  to  consti 
tute  courts,  from  which  there  was  to  be  no  appeal ;  and 
to  make  laws  with  the  assent  of  the  majority  of  freemen, 
or  of  their  representatives.  His  subjects  were  exempted 
from  taxation  by  the  crown.  It  was  stipulated  that  on 
doubtful  points  of  interpretation  the  charter  should  be 
construed  in  the  sense  most  favorable  to  the  proprietary. 
Only  two  references  to  religion  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Maryland  charter.  The  first  gives  to  the  proprietary  the 
Religion  in  patronage  and  advowsons  of  churches.  The 
Maryland,  second  empowers  him  to  erect  churches, 
chapels,  and  oratories,  which  he  may  cause  to  be  con 
secrated  according  to  the  ecclesiastical  laws  of  England. 
The  phraseology  of  these  passages  is  copied  from  the 
Avalon  patent  that  was  given  to  Sir  George  Calvert  when 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England.  Yet  the 
terms  were  such  that  the  recognition  of  that  church  as 
the  established  form  of  religion  does  not  prevent  the 
proprietary  and  the  colony  from  the  exercise  of  full  tolera 
tion  toward  other  Christian  bodies.  It  was  well  under 
stood  by  the  recipient  of  the  charter,  and  by  those  who 


MARYLAND    UNTIL   1G88  65 

granted  it,  that,  although  the  instrument  says  nothing  on 
the  subject,  such  toleration  was  to  be  practised,  and  that 
adherents  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  were  not  to  be 
molested  in  its  profession  and  in  the  use  of  their  custom 
ary  rites  of  worship.  Baltimore  had  nothing  of  the  zeal 
of  a  propagandist.  Sincere  in  his  beliefs,  he  was  luke 
warm  as  regards  the  diffusion  of  them.  It  has  been  said 
that  the  toleration  which  he  adopted  was  a  defensive 
provision,  and  there  is  truth  in  the  statement.  Any 
attempt  to  proscribe  Protestants  would  have  speedily 
proved  fatal  to  the  existence  of  the  colony.  In  a  docu 
ment  which  emanated  partly  from  Baltimore  himself,  it 
is  declared  to  be  evident  that  the  distinctive  privileges 
"  usually  granted  to  ecclesiastics  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  by  Catholic  princes  in  their  own  countries,  could 
not  possibly  be  granted  here  [in  Maryland]  without  grave 
offence  to  the  king  and  state  of  England,"  etc.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  from  the  beginning  a  large  majority  of 
the  settlers  were  Protestants,  and  the  proportion  of  Prot 
estants  was  constantly  increasing.  Nevertheless,  the 
statement  that  the  policy  of  toleration  was  unavoidable 
is  only  a  fraction  of  the  truth.  It  fails  to  do  full  justice 
to  the  spirit  of  the  founders  of  Maryland.  Tolerant 
There  is  no  reason  to  think  that  Cecilius  Cal-  fS^teSiS 
vert,  any  more  than  his  father,  would  have  timore- 
yielded  to  any  demand,  had  it  been  made,  to  deprive  their 
fellow-disciples  of  the  Roman  Church  of  religious  liberty ; 
nor  can  it  be  shown  that,  under  any  circumstances,  they 
would  have  felt  disposed  to  withhold  an  equal  toleration 
from  Protestants.  The  truth  is,  that  the  younger  Balti 
more — and  in  this  respect  he  closely  resembled  his  father 
— while  he  aimed  to  provide  a  safe  asylum  for  adherents 
of  his  own  creed,  was  mainly  concerned  to  build  up  a 
lucrative  and  flourishing  colony,  whatever  might  be  the 
creed  of  its  inhabitants. 


66  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

From  the  outset  the  project  for  a  settlement  within  the 
limits  by  which  Virginia  was  bounded  in  her  charter, 
ciayborne's  although  that  charter  had  been  revoked,  was 
settlement.  witnstood  by  all  who  were  specially  interested 
in  that  colony.  Baltimore's  patent  described  the  territory 
which  it  proceeded  to  define,  as  heretofore  unsettled — 
hactenus  inculta — and  inhabited  only  by  savages.  Will 
iam  Clayborne  had  established  a  trading  settlement  on 
the  island  of  Kent  in  the  Chesapeake,  and  thus  within  the 
boundaries  of  Maryland.  The  purpose  of  this  settlement 
was  to  carry  on  a  traffic  in  furs  with  the  Indians.  Whether 
it  could  be  considered  as  anything  more  than  a  trading 
depot,  whether  or  not  it  had  the  character  of  a  permanent 
plantation,  was  a  matter  of  dispute.  The  trading  enter 
prise  which  led  to  his  occupation  of  th  Kent  island 
was  sanctioned  by  three  Governors  of  Virginia,  and  wras 
pursued,  also,  under  a  license  from  the  ^nr..  The  peo 
ple  there  sent  a  delegate  to  the  Virginia  House  of  Bur 
gesses.  Clayborne,  who  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Virginia  Council  and  Secretary  of  State  in  that  colony, 
had  a  strong  support  there  in  his  refusal  to  permit  the 
jurisdiction  of  Maryland  to  be  extended  over  his  island. 
The  Privy  Council  decided  that  both  colonies  must  help 
one  another,  and  that  the  disputed  question  must  be  left 
to  the  course  of  law. 

Baltimore  had  intended  to  go  out  himself  with  his 
colonists  ;  but  he  saw  that  it  was  necessary  to  remain  at 
home  to  resist  the  busy  assailants  of  his  scheme  and  his 
charter.  In  fact,  he  never  saw  the  land  in  the  settlement 
of  which  he  was  so  generous  and  efficient  an  agent.  His 
Leonard  brother,  Leonard  Calvert,  was  sent  out  in 
M^ryVand  charge  of  the  emigrants,  and  to  represent  him 
colony.  as  the  hea(j  Of  the  colony.  About  twenty  gen 

tlemen,  and  two  or  three  hundred  laborers,  set  sail  on 
November  22,  1633.     Most  of  the  company  were  Protes- 


MARYLAND   UNTIL    1688  67 

tants,  but  the  major  part  of  the  gentlemen  were  Kornan 
Catholics.  At  the  Isle  of  Wight  they  took  on  board  Fa 
ther  White  and  another  Jesuit  father,  whom  Baltimore 
had  engaged  to  accompany  them.  The  priests  were 
strictly  charged  by  him  to  abstain,  on  the  voyage,  from 
all  obtrusive  religious  manifestations  that  might  give 
offence  to  the  Protestants  with  them  in  the  ship.  Arriv 
ing  at  Point  Comfort,  the  emigrants  were  welcomed  by 
Harvey,  the  Virginia  Governor,  who  continued  to  favor 
their  cause.  He  thus  drew  on  himself  the  hostility  of 
the  Virginians,  who  resented  what  they  deemed  an  en 
croachment  on  their  territorial  rights.  On  gfc  M&  ^ 
the  St.  Mary's,  a  branch  of  the  Chesapeake, 
they  found  an  Indian  town,  which  they  purchased  from 
the  friendly  inhabitants,  who  were  about  to  emigrate 
from  it.  The  relations  of  the  new-comers  with  the 
natives  continued  to  be  amicable  and  cordial.  There 
they  founded  the  town  of  St.  Mary's.  The  largest  wig 
wam  was  consecrated  by  the  Jesuit  priests  as  a  church. 
Soon  an  armed  conflict  began  with  Clayborne,  Conflict  w-th 
who  refused  to  give  up  his  claims  to  Kent,  Clayborne. 
In  this  encounter  he  was  worsted,  and  left  for  England, 
there  to  prosecute  his  suit  for  redress.  The  government 
of  Maryland  was  extended  over  the  island,  and  Clayborne 
failed  to  get  any  satisfaction  from  the  Commissioners 
for  the  Plantations.  At  first  the  Maryland  The  i^^^. 
legislature  consisted  of  the  whole  body  of 
freemen.  Then  settlers  who  could  not  come  to  the  meet 
ings  voted  by  proxy.  For  a  time  the  delegates  sat  with 
such  as  preferred  to  attend  in  person.  In  1650,  two 
bodies  were  by  law  constituted,  the  Councillors,  ap 
pointed  by  the  proprietor,  and  the  Representatives, 
elected  by  the  people.  A  provision  in  the  charter  for 
creating  an  order  of  nobility  was  never  carried  into  ef 
fect.  The  proprietary  framed  a  body  of  laws,  which, 


68  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

however,  the  legislature  declined  to  accept,  as  being  un- 
suited  to  the  condition  of  the  colony  ;  and  the  code  which 
the  legislature  took  the  initiative  in  framing  he  in  turn 
declined  to  ratify. 

The  third  Assembly,  in  1639,  formally  acknowledged 
the  allegiance  of  the  colony  to  the  king,  and  at  the  same 
"Holy  time  affirmed  the  prerogatives  of  the  Lord 
Church."  Proprietor.  It  declared  that  "Holy  Church 
shall  have  and  enjoy  all  her  rights,  liberties,  and  fran 
chises,  wholly  and  without  blemish."  It  has  been  thought 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  body  must  here  be  referred 
to  ;  but  it  has  been  shown  that  King  James,  in  a  writ 
in  1622,  designates  the  Anglican  Church  as  "  the  Holy 
Church."  Thus  there  were  precedents  for  this  appli 
cation  of  the  phrase.  That  any  other  communion  is  re 
ferred  to  in  the  declaration  of  the  Assembly  is  highly 
improbable.  The  phrase,  it  may  be  observed,  was  taken 
from  Magna  Charta.  In  the  penal  code,  blasphemy,  sac 
rilege,  sorcery,  and  idolatry  were  made  capital  crimes. 
An  act  was  passed  requiring  the  eating  of  fish  on  certain 
days.  This  was  the  adoption  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
legislature  of  a  law  which  had  been  enacted  by  Protes 
tants  under  a  Protestant  king,  Edward  VI.,  from  other 
than  religious  motives.  Baltimore  became  quite  dissatis 
fied  with  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  refused  to  concede  the 
privileges  that  were  demanded  by  them,  which  he  charac 
terized  as  "  very  extravagant,"  and  at  length  took  meas 
ures  to  prevent  any  more  priests  of  that  order  from  go 
ing  out  to  the  colony. 

The  war  between   King  and   Parliament  in   England 
produced  very  important  effects  in  Maryland.     Leonard 
Calvert,  in  1643  or  1644,  received  letters  of 
marque  from  Charles  I,   authorizing  him  to 
loa'       capture  vessels  belonging  to  the  Parliament. 
On  the  other  side,  one  Captain  Ingle  appeared  in  the 


MARYLAND   UNTIL   1688  69 

Chesapeake,   with  a  like   commission   from   Parliament. 
Ingle  was  an  ally  of  Clayborne.     The  Governor  ordered 
his  arrest.     He  escaped  in  some  way,  but  in  1645  he  re 
turned  from  England,  and  made  an  attack  on  the  Mary 
land   government.      Leonard   Calvert   fled   to   Virginia, 
where   Berkeley  protected   him.     Ingle   and   Clayborne 
landed  at  St.  Mary's  and  took  possession  of  the  place, 
driving  out  the  authorities.     But  Calvert  returned,  re 
stored  the  former  government,  and,  the  next  year,  sub 
dued   the   island   of   Kent.      Ingle   arrested  the   Jesuit 
fathers  and  carried  them  back  to  England.     Baltimore 
desisted  from  all  opposition  to  Parliament,  and  was  at 
pains  to  conciliate  what  was  now  the  dominant  power  in 
England.     Virginia  Non-conformists,  expelled 
from  that  colony,  were  induced  to  settle  on  formiets  in 
the  Chesapeake  Bay,  near  the  site  of  Annapolis. 
The  larger  part  of  the  Puritan  exiles  from  Virginia  be 
fore  long  planted  themselves  on  the  banks  of  the  Severn. 
As  early  as  1643,  Baltimore  wrote  to  a  Captain  Gibbons, 
in  Boston,  proposing  to  give  lands  to  such  Massachusetts 
Puritans  as  might   choose  to    emigrate  to   his   colony. 
"But  our  captain,"  writes  Winthrop  in  his  diary,  "had 
no  mind  to  further  his  desire  therein,  nor  had  any  of  our 
people   temptation   that   way."     There   was   certainly   a 
marked  contrast  between  the  treatment  of  Puritans  in 
Virginia   and   their  treatment   in   Maryland.     In   1643, 
after  the  death  of  his  brother,  the  proprietary  gave  a 
commission  as  Governor,  to  William  Stone,  a  Protestant, 
whom  he  required  to  take  an  oath  not  to  molest,  on  ac 
count  of  their  religion,  any  persons  who  accepted  the 
fundamental  doctrines  of  Christianit}7.     The  oath  speci 
fied  the  Roman  Catholics  in  particular  as  to  be  protected 
against  interference  with  their  liberty  of  belief  and  of 
worship.     This  stipulation  was  deemed  especially  need 
ful  on  account  of  the  state  of  parties  in  England,  and 


70  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

now  that  so  large  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  colony 
were  Protestants.     It  was  in  these  circumstances  that, 
in  April,  1649,  the  celebrated  Act  of  Religious 
Hgious  Free-  Freedom  was  passed,  by  which  liberty  of  con 
science  in  matters  of  religion  was  guaranteed 
to  all  Christians,  with  the  exception  of  disbelievers  in 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.     This  was  the  first  explicit 
guarantee  of  religious  freedom  that  was  promulgated  in 
Maryland. 

The  course  taken  by  Baltimore,  in  order  to  gain  the 
favor  of  Parliament,  was  so  offensive  to  Charles  II.,  that, 
although  an  exile,  he  deposed  the  Proprietary,  and  ap 
pointed  in  his  place  Sir  William  Davenant  as  lloyal  Gov 
ernor.  The  reason  given  was  that  Baltimore  "  did  visibly 
adhere  to  the  rebels  in  England,  and  admit  all  kinds  of 
sectaries  and  schismatics  and  ill-affected  persons  into  the 
plantation."  Davenant  collected  a  force  of  French  to  aid 
him,  started  on  the  voyage  to  take  possession  of  the 
province,  but  was  captured  in  the  Channel.  Baltimore 
afterwards  appealed  to  this  act  of  Charles  in  proof  of 
his  own  fidelity  to  the  government  set  up  by  Parliament. 
In  1651,  the  Council  of  State,  in  pursuance  of 
an  act  of  Parliament,  passed  in  the  year  pre 
vious,  sent  out  four  Commissioners,  of  whom 
Clayborne  was  one,  who  were  instructed  to  reduce  the 
plantations  "  within  the  Bay  of  Chesapeake  "  to  obedience 
to  "the  Parliament  and  the  Commonwealth  of  England." 
After  finishing  their  work  in  Virginia,  the  Commissioners 
betook  themselves  to  Maryland.  This  was  in  March,  1652. 
The  Governor  and  Council  refused  to  engage  to  issue  all 
writs  and  proclamations  in  the  name  of  "  the  Keepers  of 
the  Liberties  of  England,"  instead  of  in  the  name  of  the 
Proprietary.  Stone  was  therefore  removed  from  office, 
and  the  government  of  the  colony  was  handed  over  to 
a  Council  of  Six.  After  a  few  months,  Stone  yielded, 


MARYLAND    UXTIL    1688  71 

and  was  reinstated  in  bis  place.  The  Virginians  were 
now  excited  with  the  hope  of  incorporating  Maryland  in 
their  colony,  and  applied  to  Parliament  to  enact  this 
measure.  While  England,  under  the  rule  of  Cromwell, 
was  absorbed  in  the  war  with  the  Dutch,  Baltimore 
thought  the  time  favorable  to  recover  his  authority,  and 
instructed  Stone  to  exact  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
Proprietary.  In  connection  with  this  step,  Cromwell  was 
proclaimed  Lord  Protector.  But  the  Puritans,  who  at 
the  outset  had  declined  to  take  the  oath  except  in  a  quali 
fied  form,  refused  to  comply  with  the  new  demand,  and 
appealed  to  the  Commissioners,  Bennet  and  Clayborne. 
Stone  (in  July,  1654)  issued  a  proclamation  in  which  he 
denounced  these  Commissioners,  together  with  the  whole 
Puritan  party,  as  the  authors  and  fomenters  of  sedition. 
The  advance  of  the  Commissioners  with  an  armed  force 
against  St.  Mary's  convinced  Stone  that  resist-  puritan  as- 
ance  was  useless.  He  was  deposed,  and  the  cendency. 
government  was  given  into  the  hands  of  Captain  Fuller 
and  a  Puritan  Council.  An  Assembly  was  called,  the 
right  to  vote  for  its  members  being  withheld  from  Roman 
Catholics.  The  Assembly,  thus  composed,  denied  Balti 
more's  right  to  require  any  declaration  of  loyalty  to  him 
self,  and  passed  an  act  which  took  away  legal  protection 
to  Roman  Catholics  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion . 

O 

Instigated  by  the  rebukes  of  Baltimore,  Stone,  in  1655, 
gathered  forces  and  moved  against  Providence,  the  prin 
cipal  Puritan  settlement.     A  battle  ensued,  in  which  the 
Puritans  won  a  complete  victory.     Four  of  the  prisoners 
were  condemned  to  death  by  a  court-martial,  and  were 
executed.    Stone's  life  was  spared.     There  was 
now  a  contest  in   England  on   the   question   authority  re- 
to  which  of  the  contending  parties  Maryland  s 
should  be  committed.      In  September,   1656,  the  Com 
missioners  of  Trade  made  a  report  to  Cromwell  in  favor 


72  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

of  Baltimore.  He  sent  out  his  brother,  Philip  Calvert, 
as  a  member  of  the  Council  and  Secretary  of  the  Pro 
vince.  There  were  now  two  governments,  one  managed 
by  the  Puritans,  and  the  other  in  St.  Mary's  County, 
under  Josiah  Fendall,  whom  the  Proprietor  had  made 
Governor,  but  who  proved  himself  to  be  an  unscrupu 
lous  and  unfaithful  agent.  In  1G57,  an  agreement  was 
made  between  the  Proprietary  and  the  Commissioners. 
Clayborne  and  his  party  found  that  they  could  not  hope 
to  procure  the  displacement  of  Baltimore.  Their  oppo 
nents  were  weary  of  the  contest.  The  agreement,  as  it 
was  finally  adopted  by  Fendall  and  the  Puritans,  con 
tained  a  pledge  to  maintain  toleration,  and  a  stipulation 
that,  instead  of  imposing  the  oath  of  fidelity  on  the  resi 
dents  of  the  province,  an  engagement  should  be  taken  to 
submit  to  Lord  Baltimore,  and  to  withhold  obedience 
from  all  who  were  opposed  to  him.  The  engagement  to 
maintain  toleration  was  prescribed  by  the  Proprietary 
for  the  protection  of  the  Roman  Catholics.  But  his 
Treachery  of  troubles  were  not  at  an  end.  After  the  death  of 

Fendall.  Cromwell,  Fendall  himself  proved  faithless  to 
the  interests  of  Baltimore,  and  induced  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  to  declare  themselves  free  from  any  obliga 
tion  to  procure  the  Proprietary's  assent  to  the  laws  which 
they  should  pass.  Fendall  went  so  far  as  to  accept  a 
commission  as  Governor  from  them.  The  movement  was 
summarily  put  down  by  Baltimore,  who  now  had  the 
Ph'iip  Calvert  support  of  Charles  II.  Philip  Calvert  was 

Governor.  macje  Governor.  After  the  proclamation  of 
Charles  as  King,  Maryland  continued  tranquil  until  the 
English  Revolution  of  1688.  The  colony  rapidly  in 
creased  in  population.  The  raising  of  tobac 
co  was  so  profitable  that  efforts  to  promote 
the  cultivation  of  cereals,  and  even  to  substitute  coined 
money  for  that  product  as  a  medium  of  exchange, 


MARYLAND    UNTIL   1688  73 

were  futile.  Negro  slaves  were  early  introduced  into  the 
colony,  and  their  importation  was  encouraged  by  an  act 
passed  in  1671.  But  indentured  servants  continued  to 
exist  there  and  to  increase  in  number.  In  1659,  a  law 
was  passed  which  provided  that  "  any  of  the  vagabonds 
or  idle  persons  known  by  the  name  of  Quakers,  who 
should  again  enter  the  province,  should  be  whipped  from 
constable  to  constable  out  of  it."  But  it  is  doubtful 
whether  this  act  wras  ever  actually  enforced.  Before 
many  years  the  Quakers,  in  considerable  numbers,  es 
tablished  themselves  in  the  colony. 

The  second  Lord  Baltimore  died  in  1675,  and  Charles 
Calvert  succeeded  to  the  title.  He  was  obliged  to  enter 
into  a  controversy  with  William  Penn  respect-  Dispute  w:tti 
ing  boundaries.  Baltimore's  southern  boun-  Perm- 
dary,  as  denned  in  his  charter,  was  a  line  running  east 
from  Watkin's  Point  on  the  Chesapeake.  His  north 
ern  boundary  was  the  fortieth  parallel.  Penn's  boun 
dary  was  declared  in  his  charter  to  be  the  fortieth  paral 
lel,  and  a  circle  of  twelve  miles  around  New  Castle.  A 
wrong  idea  had  been  entertained  as  to  the  position  of  the 
fortieth  degree.  It  had  been  supposed  to  be  farther 
south.  Baltimore  insisted  on  the  terms  of  his  charter, 
and  claimed,  moreover,  the  portion  of  the  Delaware  pen 
insula  which  the  Duke  of  York  had  granted  to  Penn. 
Penn  demanded  that  the  northern  boundary  should  be 
run  where  the  Lords  of  Trade  had  supposed  it  to  be,  and 
which  gave  him  access  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Dela 
ware  Bay.  The  decision  of  the  Board  of  Trade  in  Eng 
land,  in  1685,  gave  to  him  what  he  claimed  of  the  Dela 
ware  peninsula,  but  the  other  points  in  the  controversy 
were  not  fully  adjusted  until  long  after. 

The  Maryland  charter,  like  all  the  other  colonial  char 
ters,  was  obnoxious  to  James  II.  In  1687,  an  attack  was 
begun  upon  it  in  the  usual  way,  by  a  writ  of  quo  ivar- 


74  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

ranto.  The  Revolution  of  1688  was  the  signal  of  a  move 
ment  in  the  colony  for  the  overthrow  of  the  Proprietary 
Overthrow  rule.  There  was  an  unfortunate  delay  in  pro- 
P  r  i^et  a1??'  claiming  William  and  Mary,  which,  as  far  as  Bal 
timore  was  concerned,  was  due  to  an  accident. 
The  insurgents  were  Protestants,  largely  of  the  Church 
of  England,  and  were  led  by  one  John  Coode.  They 
formed  themselves  into  an  association.  The  State  House 
and  the  records  were  surrendered  to  Coode  and  his  fol 
lowers.  Baltimore's  efforts  in  England  to  retain  his 
province  were  ineffectual.  Early  in  1692,  Sir  Lionel  Cop 
ley  arrived  in  Maryland,  bearing  the  royal  commission  as 
Governor.  The  Proprietary's  authority  was  at  an  end, 
but  he  was  suffered  to  retain  the  pecuniary  benefits 
which  he  derived  from  the  province. 

The  characteristics  of  society  in  Maryland  in  the  seven 
teenth  century  were  not  materially  diverse  from  those 
Society  in  wnich  prevailed  in  Virginia.  The  natural  feat- 
Maryland.  ures — the  soil  and  climate — were  essentially 
the  same.  The  Proprietary  rule  was  the  only  important 
difference  in  the  mode  of  government.  The  judicial  system 
was  better  than  that  which  existed  in  Virginia.  There  were 
competent  and  respected  lawyers  in  Maryland  earlier  than 
was  the  case  in  the  adjacent  southern  colony.  Tobacco 
was  the  one  chief  product,  and  the  fluctuations  in  its  value 
caused  the  same  troubles  in  one  community  as  in  the 
other.  In  both  colonies,  commerce  was  equally  depressed. 
In  both,  the  absence  of  towns  produced  a  like  effect  on 
employments  and  manners.  As  was  true  of  Virginia,  the 
main  part  of  the  Maryland  people  were  of  English  origin  ; 
but  they  were  not,  as  there,  of  the  same  religious  belief. 
Hence  the  alternations  of  toleration  and  coercion  which 
run  through  its  early  history.  The  exclusiveness  of  the 
English  Church,  when  it  was  in  control,  and  the  unworthy 
character  of  many  of  its  clergy,  increased  the  strength  of 


MARYLAND    UNTIL   1688  75 

the  Dissenting  sects,  and  was  answerable  to  a  considerable 
degree  for  the  spread  of  religious  indifference.  The  laws 
relating  to  slavery  were  harsh,  but  the  treatment  of  slaves, 
as  a  rule,  as  in  the  more  southern  colony,  was  humane. 
Their  condition  for  a  long  period  was  little  removed  from 
barbarism.  The  numerous  imported  convicts,  when  they 
were  released  from  forced  labor,  bedame  an  idle  and 
dangerous  class  of  freedmen.  The  higher  aristocracy  were 
even  less  distinctively  sundered  from  farmers  immediately 
below  them  than  in  Virginia. 


4       CHAPTEK  VI. 

THE  CAROLINAS  UNTIL  1688 

Grant  of  Carolina  by  Charles  II.— The  Two  Settlements— "  The 
Fundamental  Constitutions" — North  Carolina — Civil  Disturb 
ances  —  Sothel — Ludwell — South  Carolina — Slavery  — Scotch- 
Irish  and  Huguenot  Immigrants — Civil  Disturbances. 

IT  was  on  the  shores  of  North  Carolina  that  Raleigh's 
two  colonies  had  beeD  planted.  In  1629,  the  territory 
comprised  in  both  the  Carolinas  was  granted  by  Charles 
I.  to  Sir  Kobert  Heath,  who  afterwards  transferred  his 
patent  to  Lord  Maltravers.  Inasmuch  as  a  "  reasonable 
time "  elapsed  without  any  settlement  being  made,  this 
patent  was  forfeited.  Virginia  assumed  to  make  grants 
to  trading  companies,  which  had  no  permanent  result. 
But  in  1653,  a  small  company  of  Dissenters  from  Virginia 
migrated  to  the  Chowan  River  and  began  the  Albemarle 
settlement.  A  considerable  number  of  Quakers  were 
included  in  it.  About  1660,  certain  New  England ers 
bought  land  of  the  Indians  on  the  Cape  Fear  River. 
They  were  not  satisfied  with  the  place,  and  abandoned  it 
in  disgust.  In  1665,  English  colonists  came  over  from 
Barbados  to  Cape  Fear  and  planted  the  district  subse 
quently  known  by  the  name  of  Clarendon.  Two  years 

before,  in  1663,  Charles  II.,  who  found  it  easy 
Carolina  by  to  gratify  his  favorites  by  the  gift  of  extensive 

regions  in  the  New  World,  granted  to  eight 
persons— including  the  Earl  of  Clarendon,  General 
Monk,  Duke  of  Albemarle,  Lord  Ashley  Cooper,  who 


THE  CAROLINAS    UNTIL   1688  77 

was  to  become  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury — all  Carolina, 
from  the  thirty-sixth  degree  of  north  latitude.  Sir 
William  Berkeley,  then  Governor  of  Virginia,  organized 
a  government  for  the  Chowan  district,  or  Al- 

The    Albe- 

bemarle.     William  Drummond  was  appointed   marie  and 
Governor.     In  the  southern  district,  or  Claren-  don  s e t*ti e- 
don,  John  Yeamans,  who  had  led  the  Barbados 
emigrants,  received  a  commission  as  Governor. 

The  Clarendon  colony  did  not  prosper,  partly  because 
there  were  more  eligible  places  for  settlement,  especially 
the  site  of  Charleston.  The  Proprietors,  by  the  terms  of 
the  charter,  were  nearly  absolute,  as  regards  both  Crown 
and  Parliament ;  but  "  the  advice,  consent,  and  approba 
tion  "  of  the  freemen  were  required  to  give  validity  to  their 
laws.  There  was  to  be  freedom  in  religion  to  all  who  did 
not  disturb  the  peace.  The  Proprietors  took  pains  to 
make  liberal  terms  with  New  Englanders  and  with  any 
who  might  be  inclined  to  migrate  to  their  province.  In 
1665,  another  charter  was  granted  by  the  King,  by  which 
the  boundaries  of  the  province  were  made  to  be  36°  30' 
on  the  north  and  29°  on  the  south. 

Seven  years  after  the  first  charter  was  given,  John 
Locke,  who  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Shaftesbury, 
framed,  in  conjunction  with  him,  what  were  called 
"  The  Fundamental  Constitutions  of  Caro 
lina,"  which  were  sanctioned  and  adopted  etitutions"of 
by  the  Proprietors.  This  product  of  the  c 
genius  of  the  most  eminent  statesman  and  the  ablest 
philosopher  of  that  day  was  an  impracticable  system  of 
government.  It  was  never  carried  out,  and  had  no 
other  effect  than  to  embroil  the  Proprietors  in  disputes 
with  the  colonists.  "  To  avoid  erecting  a  numerous 
democracy"  was  one  of  the  principal  motives  avowed 
in  the  preamble  of  this  utopian  scheme.  The  eldest 
of  the  Proprietors  was  to  be  a  "Palatine,"  and  the 


78  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

country  to  be  a  county  palatinate,  like  Durham.  The 
other  Proprietors  were  severally  to  hold  seven  other  great 
offices — those  of  Admiral,  Chancellor,  High  Steward,  etc. 
The  province  was  to  be  divided  into  seigniories,  bar 
onies,  and  precincts.  To  the  different  ranks  of  nobility, 
two-fifths  of  all  the  land  was  to  belong,  the  other  three- 
fifths  being  reserved  for  the  people.  There  were  to  be 
eight  supreme  courts,  one  for  each  proprietor.  There 
was  to  be  a  Grand  Council.  There  was  to  be  a  Parlia 
ment,  but  nothing  was  to  come  before  it  which  had  not 
previously  been  proposed  in  the  Council  and  approved 
by  it.  There  was  to  be  trial  by  jury,  but  only  a  majority 
was  to  be  required  for  a  verdict.  No  one  was  to  be  al 
lowed  to  receive  fee  or  reward  for  pleading  in  court  for 
another.  To  avoid  a  multiplicity  of  laws,  all  laws  were  to 
become  inoperative  and  void  a  hundred  years  from  the 
date  of  their  enactment.  Seven  persons  might  organize 
themselves  into  a  Church.  It  was  required  that  they 
should  at  least  profess  their  belief  in  God  and  in  the 
obligation  to  worship  him,  and  set  down  in  their  creed  a 
form  of  oath  or  affirmation  to  be  used  by  witnesses  in 
courts.  No  person  above  seventeen  years  of  age  who 
was  not  a  church  member  was  to  hold  any  place  of  honor 
or  profit,  or  enjoy  the  benefit  or  protection  of  law.  Con 
trary  to  the  wishes  of  Locke,  there  was  inserted  in  the 
"  Constitutions "  a  provision  for  the  establishment  of 
the  Church  of  England,  the  building  of  churches,  and  the 
maintenance,  through  acts  of  the  Parliament,  of  its  minis 
try.  No  one  was  to  be  molested  or  coerced  on  account 
of  his  religious  opinions.  The  statements  under  this 
head  were  in  accord  with  Locke's  well-known  convictions 
in  favor  of  religious  liberty.  "  Landgraves  "  and  "  Cas- 
siques  "  were  included  in  the  aristocracy  to  be  established 
in  the  colony.  Locke  himself  acquired  the  title  of  "  Land* 
grave." 


THE  CAROLINAS   UN'i'IL   1688  79 

There  were  two  colonies  after   the   disappearance  of 
the  Clarendon  settlement — Albemarle  on  the   north,  and 
the  Ashley  River  colony  on  the  south.     Adopt-  North   Caro_ 
ing  later  designations,  we  may  style  the  one         Una- 
North,  and  the  other  South,  Carolina.      The  settlers  at 
Albemarle  were  reinforced  by  emigrants  from  New  Eng 
land.     In  1667,  Samuel  Stephens  became  Governor,  as  the 
successor  of  Drummond.     The  form  of  government  un 
der  which  the  people  were  living  was  one  in  which  they 
had  a  share,  and  with  which  they  were  satisfied.     There 
was  considerable  religious  activity  among  the  Quakers, 
who  were  visited  a  number  of  years  later  (in  1672)  by 
George  Fox.     Before  the  death  of  Stephens,  the  attempt 
was  made  to  enforce  the  new  "  Constitutions  "  and  to  dis 
place  the  existing  form  of  rule.     This  excited  Civil  ,y8turt,. 
disaffection  and  resistance.     One  of  the  colo-       ances. 
nists,  Thomas  Miller,  who  went  to  England  to  represent 
their  interests,  returned  to  act  against  them  and  to  carry 
out  the  measures  of  the  Proprietors.     The  New  England- 
ers  refused  to  give  up  their  trade  with  the  West  Indies  or 
to  obey  the  Navigation  Laws,  which  he  tried  to  enforce. 
The  Quakers  had  their  own  grievances,  and  were  in  sym 
pathy  with  the  spirit  of  revolt.     John  Culpepper  was  the 
leader  of  the  insurgents.     Miller  and  the  deputies  of  the 
Proprietors  were  displaced.     Miller  went  to  England,  and 
was  followed  by  Culpepper.     The  former  was  removed 
from  office.     Culpepper  was  tried  for  treason,  but   was 
acquitted.      In    1683,  Seth    Sothel,  who   had 
bought  Clarendon's  proprietary  right,  took  the 
office  of  Governor.     His  rapacity — for  his  aim  was  to  en 
rich  himself — caused   a   rising  of  the  people.     He  was 
banished  by  the  Assembly  for  twelve  months.     This  was 
in    1688.     A   large   number  of   fugitives  from   Virginia, 
many  of  whom  fled  from  there  to  escape  the  harsh  pun 
ishments  which  followed  Bacon's  insurrection,  had  settled 


80  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

in  Albemarle.     The  anarcliical  state  of  the  colony  was,  in 
tho  main,  the  result  of  the  indiscreet  interference  of  the 
Proprietors.      While   Luchvell    was    Governor 
the    people  were  delivered  from   oppression ; 
but  such  was  the  disorder  under  his  inefficient  rule  that 
the  population  was  largely  diminished.     In  1693,  he  was 
made  Governor  of  both  colonies,  and  removed  to  Charles 
ton. 

The  Ashley  River  settlement  was  commenced  in  1670,  by 
a  company  of  emigrants  led  by  Joseph  West,  and  by  Will 
iam  Sayle,  who  was  to  take  the  office  of  Governor.  They 

were  sent  out  under  the  auspices  of  the  Pro- 
South    Caro 
lina,        prietors.     The  "Fundamental  Constitutions, 

it  was  seen  by  them  at  once,  could  not  be  put  in  force. 
They  established  a  mode  of  government  in  which  the 
powers  of  the  executive  were  limited,  and  delegates  to 
the  legislature  were  chosen  by  the  people.  In  1672, 
Charleston  was  fixed  upon  as  the  permanent  site  for  the 
settlement.  In  1671,  there  was  an  arrival  of  Dutch  emi 
grants  from  New  York.  In  the  same  year,  negro  slaves 
were  imported.  It  was  not  long  before  they  greatly  out 
numbered  the  whites.  There  were  many  additions  to  the 
colony  from  England.  Among  them  was  a  company  of 
Scotch-Irish,  who  came  over  in  1683.  A  small  settlement 
of  Presbyterian  families  from  Scotland  at  Port  Eoyal  was 
swept  away  by  a  Spanish  incursion.  An  event  of  great  im 
portance  in  relation  to  the  future  history  of  South  Carolina 
was  the  coming  of  Huguenot  emigrants,  fugi- 
not  settlers,  tives  from  the  persecution  which  followed  the 
revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  in  1685.  They  settled 
on  the  Cooper  Eiver.  For  a  time  they  were  not  admitted 
to  political  rights,  but  after  an  interval  these  were  granted 
to  them. 

Sayle  died  in  1671.  In  1674,  Joseph  West  took  the 
office,  which  he  administered  for  nine  years  with  energy 


THE   CAKOLINAS   UNTIL   1688  81 

and  prudence.  Then  for  a  long  period  there  was  much 
turbulence  and  a  struggle  of  factions.  A  portion  of  the 
settlers  consisted  of  worthless  adventurers.  civi]  digturb. 
The  colonists  resisted  the  prosecution  for  ances- 
debts  which  had  been  elsewhere  contracted.  In  this  mat 
ter  the  Proprietors  were  at  variance  with  them.  There 
was  contention  with  them,  also,  on  account  of  the  shelter 
and  impunity  granted  at  Charleston  to  piratical  assailants 
of  Spanish  vessels.  These  doings  threatened  to  bring  on 
war  between  Spain  and  England.  The  party  in  favor  of 
the  King  and  the  Church  was  formed  by  the  Proprietors, 
although  a  majority  of  the  settlers,  and  the  soundest  part 
of  them,  were  Dissenters.  Then  attempts  to  enforce  the 
Navigation  Laws  were  sure  to  breed  disturbance  and  ex 
cite  resistance.  A  chronic  source  of  trouble  was  the 
"  Fundamental  Constitutions,"  some  of  the  peculiar  fea 
tures  of  which  the  Proprietors,  from  time  to  time,  sought 
to  introduce.  The  effort  to  enforce  the  adoption  of  them, 
which  was  begun  by  Governor  Colleton  in  1686,  was  with 
stood  by  the  colonial  parliament.  In  1689,  he  declared 
martial  law.  Colleton  was  openly  resisted,  and  was  ban 
ished  from  the  province. 
0 


CHAPTER  VH. 

NEW  ENGLAND    TO    THE    PLANTING    OF    CONNECTICUT 

IN  1636 

The  Plymouth  Company — The  Popham  Colony — John  Smith  in 
New  England — The  Council  of  New  England — Puritanism  in 
England — Religious  Parties  in  Elizabeth's  Reign — The  Inde 
pendents — The  Scrooby  Congregation — The  Pilgrims  in  Hol 
land — The  Voyage  of  the  Mayflower— The  Settlement  at 
Plymouth — The  Government  at  Plymouth  — Growth  and  Char 
acter  of  the  Colony — Towns — Mason's  Grant  of  New  Hamp 
shire — The  New  Puritan  Emigration— Endicott  at  Salem  — 
The  Charter  of  the  Massachusetts  Company — The  First  Con 
gregational  Church— Alleged  "Intolerance"  of  the  Puritans 
— Transfer  of  the  Massachusetts  Company  to  New  England 
— John  Winthrop — The  Great  Emigration  to  Massachusetts  — 
Sufferings  of  the  Colony — Its  Form  of  Government — Congre 
gationalism — Roger  Williams — Williams  Founds  Providence — 
Vane — Mrs.  Ann  Hutchinson — Winthrop  again  Chosen  Gov 
ernor — Heroic  Spirit  of  the  Colony — Council  of  New  England 
Surrenders  its  Charter — Roger  Williams  and  his  Colony — Set 
tlement  of  Rhode  Island — The  Settlements  in  New  Hampshire 
— Gorges'  Settlement  in  Maine. 

THE  Plymouth  Company  was   almost  eclipsed  by  the 

London  branch  of  the  Virginia  Corporation.     The  Lon- 

„      don  Company  was  rich   and  influential.     All 

month  Com-  eyes  were  attracted  to  the  body  under  whose 

auspices  the  Jamestown  colony  had  been  sent 

out.       Yet  the  promoters   of   the   Plymouth    Company, 

especially  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  from  the  outset  a  prime 

mover  in  the  whole  enterprise,  were  not  inactive.     On 

the  return  of  Weymouth  from  his  voyage,  in  1606,  several 


TO   THK   PLANTING   OF    CONNECTICUT  83 

Indians,  whom  he  brought  back  with  him,  were  trained, 
under  the  superintendence  of  Gorges,  to  serve  as  inter 
preters  and  intermediates  between  the  English  and  the 
natives. 

In  1607,  a  few  months  after  the  beginnings  at  James 
town,  two  vessels  were  sent  out  by  Gorges  and  his  associ 
ates  to  establish  a  permanent  colony.  They  The  Popham 
carried  one  hundred  and  twenty  persons,  Cololiy- 
under  Captain  Ealeigh  Gilbert,  with  George  Popham, 
a  brother  of  the  Chief  Justice,  as  President.  They 
reached  Monhegan  Island,  a  place  of  frequent  resort  for 
voyagers,  situated  off  the  Maine  coast.  They  chose  for 
the  site  of  their  settlement  the  near  peninsula  of  Sabino 
on  the  main-land,  where  they  erected  a  church,  a  store 
house,  and  other  buildings.  The  ships  carried  back  a 
glowing  account  of  the  new  country.  But  the  familiar 
record  is  once  more  to  be  repeated.  The  winter  was 
very  severe,  Popham  died,  and  the  news  of  the  death  of 
the  Chief  Justice  arrived.  The  disheartened  colonists 
abandoned  the  settlement  and  returned  to  England. 
Thus  ended  the  "  Popham  Colony."  In  1614,  Captain 
John  Smith,  the  hero  of  the  Virginia  colony, 

,-,  •     •.'•---  ,!  /. -n/r   •  JohnSmith 

again  appears,  this  time  on  the  coast  of  Maine,  and  New  Eng- 
He  explains  the  errand  on  which  he  came.  He 
was  to  take  whales  or  discover  mines  :  or,  failing  in  such 
endeavors,  he  was  to  obtain  fish  and  furs.  In  these  last 
attempts  he  was  successful.  But  he  did  incidental  work 
of  far  greater  consequence.  This  tireless  explorer  moved 
along  the  coast  in  a  boat  from  the  Penobscot  to  Cape 
Cod.  To  a  number  of  places  he  gave  names,  some  of 
which,  as  recorded  on  his  map,  still  remain.  He  gave  to 
the  region  the  name  of  New  England.  His  "Descrip 
tion  of  New  England,"  which  he  published  on  his  re 
turn,  is  a  somewhat  picturesque,  as  well  as  generally  ac 
curate,  account  of  what  he  saw.  In  this  and  in  the  sub- 


84  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

sequent  writings  of  Smith,  there  are  not  wanting  a  gen 
erous  enthusiasm  and  more  enlightened  views  relative  to 
the  ends  and  methods  of  colonization  than  were  generally 
entertained.  He  continued  to  be  employed  by  the  Ply 
mouth  Company.  He  was  anxious  to  combine  with 
Gorges  and  the  Plymouth  leaders  others  who  were  pos 
sessed  of  larger  means.  "Much  labour,"  he  writes,  "I 
had  taken  to  bring  the  Londoners  and  them  to  joyne  to 
gether,  because  the  Londoners  have  much  money,  and  the 
Westerne  men  are  most  proper  for  fishing  ;  and  it  is 
neere  as  much  trouble,  but  much  more  danger,  to  saile 
from  London  to  Plimouth,  than  from  Plimouth  to  New 
England."  He  was  thwarted,  however,  by  the  ambition 
of  both  parties  to  be  "  lords  of  this  fishing."  He  was 
bent  on  establishing  a  permanent  colony  on  the  coast 
which  he  had  described  and  delineated.  Twice  he  set 
sail  to  carry  out  his  design,  but  was  baffled  each  time  by 
accidents.  He  would  have  set  out  a  third  time,  but  was 
kept  back  at  Plymouth  by  head  winds  which  prevailed 
for  three  months.  Smith  retained  the  well-earned  title 
which  he  had  received  from  the  Plymouth  Company,  of 
Admiral  of  New  England. 

Gorges  had  expended  large  sums  from  his  own  private 
fortune  in  exploring  and  trading  expeditions,  and  in  un 
successful  exertions  to  plant  settlements.  These 
cii  of  New  enterprises  had  been  set  on  foot  by  him  and 
his  friends,  acting  in  the  name  of  the*Plymouth 
Company.  At  length  there  was  opened  before  them  the 
prospect  of  large  gains  by  a  monopoly  in  the  fisheries. 
It  was  just  at  the  time  when  James  was  engaged  in  the 
experiment  of  ruling  without  a  Parliament,  and  was  dis 
pensing  monopolies  with  a  lavish  hand.  G.orges  was  a 
supporter  of  the  King's  party,  and  was  helped  by  influen 
tial  noblemen.  In  1620,  he,  and  the  "  Gentlemen  Adven 
turers  "  with  him,  obtained  a  patent,  to  take  the  place  of 


TO   THE   PLANTING    OF   CONNECTICUT  85 

the  charter  of  the  Plymouth  Company,  granting  to  them, 
under  the  name  of  the  Council  of  New  England,  the  ter 
ritory  between  the  fortieth  parallel— or  about  the  lati 
tude  of  Philadelphia — and  the  forty-eighth  degree,  which 
crosses  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs.  The  patentees  were  to  have 
the  right  to  plant  and  to  govern  settlements,  and  also  to 
convey  to  individuals  and  companies  subordinate  grants, 
accompanied  by  powers  similar  to  their  own.  The  patent 
forbade  any  to  visit  the  New  England  coasts  without  a 
license  from  the  Council.  This  cut  off  the  right  to  land 
and  to  dry  fish,  and  created,  practically,  although  not  in 
direct  terms,  a  complete  monopoly  in  the  benefit  of  the 
fisheries.  As  soon  as  the  plan  of  Gorges  and  his  associ 
ates  for  obtaining  this  charter  became  known,  the  mana 
gers  of  the  London  Company  were  up  in  arms.  A  deter 
mined,  persevering  protest  wras  made  against  the  bestowal 
of  such  a  privilege.  These  managers  were  in  disfavor,  as 
being  of  the  political  opposition.  But  Sir  Edward  Coke 
and  others  were  resolute  in  their  hostility  to  the  obnoxi 
ous  measure.  When  Parliament  met,  the  resistance  was 
pressed.  Although  the  patent  was  delivered  Pallure  of 
to  Gorges,  the  controversy  went  on  for  several  Gorges, 
years,  the  demand  for  "  a  free  liberty  of  all  the  King's 
subjects  for  fishing "  could  not  be  withstood,  and  the 
Council  was  obliged  to  yield.  With  the  loss  of  this 
coveted  monopoly,  the  prospects  of  the  organization  were 
blighted,  and  it  ceased  to  flourish. 

The  permanent  settlement  of  New  England  was  to 
spring  from  a  stronger  sentiment  than  the  love  of  gain, 
and  from  a  nobler  passion  than  the  spirit  of  progress  of 
adventure.  Its  motive  was  found-  in  religion,  £E.^°.gJ^- 
When  King  Henry  VIIL  broke  off  the  connec-  land- 
tion  of  England  with  the  Papacy,  and  made  himself,  in 
the  room  of  the  Pope,  the  head  of  the  English  Church,  he 
did  not  change  his  theology.  He  did  not  himself  intend 


86  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

to  forsake  the  Roman  Catholic  doctrines,  nor  did  he  mean 
to  allow  his  subjects  to  adopt  a  different  faith  from  his 
own.  He  was  enabled  to  carry  through  the  revolution 
which  he  effected,  through  that  inbred  dislike  of  foreign 
ecclesiastical  rule,  which  had  been  of  slow  growth  in 
England,  but  had  come  to  be  an  established  feeling.  He 
was  aided,  likewise,  by  the  doctrinal  Protestantism,  with 
which  he  had  no  personal  sympathy,  but  which,  under 
Lutheran  influences,  was  getting  a  foothold  among  his 
people.  But  Protestants  and  adherents  of  the  Pope  the 
King  treated  with  equal  severity.  He  sent  both  classes 
of  dissenters  from  his  system  to  the  stake  or  the  scaffold. 
His  iron  will,  aided  by  favoring  circumstances,  enabled 
him  during  his  lifetime  to  maintain  the  middle  position 
and  to  enforce  an  outward  obedience.  His  youthful  son, 
Edward  vi  -Edward  ^>  was  a  Protestant  by  conviction, 

and  when  he  succeeded  to  the  throne,  the  grow 
ing,  but  hitherto  repressed  party  which  had  espoused 
Protestant  opinions,  came  to  the  front.  The  Anglican 
Protestant  Church  was  brought  into  close  fraternal  rela 
tions  with  Protestant  bodies  on  the  Continent.  Its  con 
stitution  was  framed.  Its  creed  and  Prayer-book  were 
compiled  by  Cranmer  and  learned  coadjutors.  But  the 
current  of  innovation  wras  swifter  than  the  majority  of  the 
nation  approved.  The  reaction  that  followed  under  Mary 
Mar  restored  the  Church  of  Rome  to  its  old  place  of 

authority.  But  this  renewed  rule  of  a  foreign 
ecclesiastic,  the  Queen's  close  relations  with  Spain,  and  the 
cruelties  inflicted  on  the  Reformers  and  their  disciples, 
made  the  people  ready  for  a  Protestant  successor  in  the 
person  of  Elizabeth.  Not  less  than  eight  hundred  exiles, 
embracing  numerous  able  and  learned  ministers,  who  in 
the  reign  of  Mary  had  fled  from  the  fires  of  Smithfield, 
now  came  back.  The  sojourn  of  many  of  them  with  the 
Swiss  Protestant  leaders  had  brought  them  into  full  sym- 


TO   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT  87 

pathy  with  the  more  radical  type  of  Protestantism  which 
had  previously  won  favor  among  the  divines  who,  in  Ed 
ward's  time,  composed  the  formularies  of  the  English 
Church.  Thus  there  sprang  up  in  full  vigor,  at  Eliza 
beth's  accession,  the  Puritan  party,  with  which  she  herself, 
a  Lutheran  in  her  creed,  and  bent  on  main-  The  ^^ 
taining  her  ecclesiastical  prerogatives  in  the  9f  Pur.tan- 
spirit  of  her  father,  had  no  personal  sympathy. 
Her  policy  in  matters  of  ritual  was  that  of  compromise 
with  the  old  religion.  To  the  desire  of  the  Puritans — 
who  included  in  their  ranks  some  of  her  own  leading 
bishops — to  exclude  from  the  liturgy  of  the  p0Hcy  of 
English  Church  peculiarities  at  variance  with  Ellzabeth- 
the  doctrine  of  Zwingli,  and  especially  of  Calvin,  and  to 
modify  ecclesiastical  arrangements,  she  interposed  an 
inflexible  resistance.  Without  entering  into  the  theo 
logical  controversies  of  that  period,  or  approving  the 
tyrannical  temper  and  doings  of  the  Tudor  sovereigns 
who  cast  off  the  papal  rule,  we  shall  have  to  allow  that 
probably  one  result  of  their  conservative  policy,  and  of 
the  unbending  will  with  which  they  pursued  it,  was  the 
exemption  of  England  from  the  intestine  religious  wars 
that  desolated  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Continent. 

All  through  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  the  Roman  Catho 
lics  were  a  very  numerous  portion  of  her  subjects.  A 
part  of  them  hated  her  government,  and  were  The  re]lg-OU8 
ready  to  co-operate  in  plots  to  dethrone  and  parties. 
destroy  her.  But  another  portion  coupled  with  an  an 
tagonistic  faith  feelings  of  patriotism  and  loyalty,  that 
moved  them  to  unite  with  their  fellow-subjects  in  tak 
ing  up  arms  to  resist  the  attempts  of  Spain  and  the 
Catholic  reaction  on  the  Continent  to  subjugate  England. 
Then  there  was,  secondly,  the  Anglican  Protestant  party, 
which  defended  Episcopacy  and  approved  of  the  Queen's 
ecclesiastical  system  in  all  its  main  features.  But  there 


88  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

was,  in  the  third  place,  the  Presbyterian  party,  which, 
like  the  Episcopalian,  believed  in  a  national  church,  but 
would  have  the  government  of  it  Presbyterian,  instead 
of  prelatical,  and  contended  that,  not  the  edicts  of  the 
Queen  and  of  Parliament,  but  ecclesiastical  assemblies 
should  prescribe  the  creed,  ritual,  and  discipline  of  the 
Church ;  their  regulations,  however,  to  be  supported 
and  enforced  by  the  civil  authority.  The  Presbyteri 
ans  were  in  the  national  church  ;  but  they  conformed  to 
certain  requirements  in  its  polity  and  to  certain  prescrip 
tions  in  the  Prayer-book  with  reluctance,  and  under  a 
protest,  and  in  some  cases  refused  to  comply  with  them, 
and  labored  for  a  change,  submitting,  meantime,  to  the 
legal  penalties  of  non-conformity.  Puritans  of  every 
grade,  it  may  be  remarked,  whether  obeying  the  Act 
of  Uniformity  while  chafing  under  its  requirements,  or 
passively  declining  to  obey,  were  earnest  to  procure  the 
abolition  of  pluralities  and  kindred  abuses,  and  to  substi 
tute  educated,  devout  ministers  for  the  numerous  illiter 
ate  and  worldly  pastors  scattered  through  the  parishes 
of  England.  But  there  was  a  fourth  religious  party, 
another  branch  or  product  of  Puritanism,  that  demands 
attention. 

Before  the  close  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  there  sprang 
up  the  Independents,  who  sympathized  in  theology  with 
The  ludepen-  the  conforming  and  non-conforming^  Presby- 

dents.  terians.  In  truth,  as  regards  dogmas,  in  dis 
tinction  from  "polity,  there  was  at  this  time  little  con 
tention  among  English  Protestants  of  whatever  name. 
But  the  Independents  did  not  believe  in  religious  estab 
lishments.  They  were  opposed  altogether  to  national 
churches.  A  church,  they  held,  was  a  local  body  of 
Christian  believers,  united  in  fellowship  by  a  covenant, 
electing  its  own  ministers  and  administering  its  own 
discipline  by  popular  vote,  with  no  interference,  ex- 


TO   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT  89 

cept  in  the  way  of  fraternal  counsel,  from  any  other 
ecclesiastical  body.  Hence  the  name  "Independents." 
As  distinguished  both  from  Episcopalians  and  Presby 
terians,  all  of  whom  believed  in  an  established  church 
with  a  legally  ordained  creed,  ritual,  and  discipline,  they 
were  designated  as  "  Separatists."  Before  the  close 
of  Elizabeth's  reign  it  was  estimated  by  Ealeigh  that 
there  were  not  less  than  twenty  thousand  Independents 
in  England.  The  name  of  "Brownists"  was  often 
applied  to  them  from  one  of  their  early  leaders,  Rob 
ert  Browne,  a  preacher  at  Norwich,  a  man  turbulent  and 
unstable  in  his  ways.  Protected  by  his  relative,  Lord 
Burghley,  he  was  able  to  escape  from  England  and  to 
serve  for  a  time  a  congregation  in  Zealand.  Thence  he 
returned  to  accept  a  benefice  in  the  English  Church. 
He  brought  no  credit  either  to  the  Separatists  or  to  the 
communion  in  whose  service  he  died.  The  appellation 
"  Brownists  "  was  never  relished  by  the  Independents, 
but  was  often  affixed  to  them  as  a  nickname.  To  re 
ject  the  Church  established  by  the  law  of  the  land,  was 
construed  by  the  Queen's  government  as  sedition,  and 
was  punished  by  the  penalties  attached  to  that  crime. 
In  1583,  two  of  the  Separatist  ministers, 
named  Copping  and  Thacker,  both  of  them  ti 


clergymen  who  had  been  ordained  in  the  Es 
tablished  Church,  were  put  to  death  for  the  crime  of 
non-conformity,  involving,  as  it  was  held,  the  denial  of 
the  Queen's  supremacy.  In  1593,  three  other  godly 
ministers  —  Barrowe,  Greenwood,  and  Penry,  all  of  them 
graduates  of  Cambridge  —  were  hanged  for  the  same 
offence. 

It  was  to  a  little  Independent  congregation  at  Scrooby, 
in  Nottinghamshire,  that  the  Pilgrims  who  settled  at 
Plymouth  originally  belonged.  It  met  for  worship  at 
the  manor-house  in  Scrooby,  occupied  by  William  Brew- 


90  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

ster,  who  hospitably  opened  his  doors  to  the  persecuted 
flock  whose  faith  he  shared.  Brewster  had  been  a  stu- 

T'ie  scroo  ^en^  a*  Cambridge,  but  ^t  his  studies  to  be- 
by  eongrega-  come  the  secretary  of  Davison,  one  of  the 
Queen's  Secretaries  for  Foreign  Affairs,  who 
was  dismissed  from  office,  heavily  fined,  and  imprisoned; 
in  consequence  of  Elizabeth's  desire  to  shift  upon  him 
the  responsibility  of  doing  what  she  had  required  of  him 
in  connection  with  the  warrant  for  the  execution  of 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots.  By  his  friendly  agency  Brewster 
was  made  "  post,"  or  postmaster,  of  the  place  where  he 
lived.  Later  he  became  a  "  ruling  elder  "  of  the  religious 
society  which  held  its  meetings  under  his  roof.  Brew 
ster  was  a  man  of  sincere  piety,  and  of  a  noble,  generous 
spirit.  The  list  of  the  books  which  he  brought  across 
the  ocean,  and  left  behind  him  at  his  death,  indicates 
that  he  was  well  read  in  theology,  and  that  his  reading 
was  not  confined  to  this  branch.  The  principal  minis- 
John  Robin-  *er  °f  the  Scrooby  church  was  John  Eobinson. 
son-  He  had  been  a  Fellow  at  Cambridge.  He  was 
a  man  of  uncommon  ability  and  learning.  In  his  theol 
ogy  he  was  a  Calvinist,  but  he  was  of  an  unusually  tol 
erant  spirit.  The  Scrooby  flock  was  made  up  of  people 
of  humble  rank,  mostly  farmers  and  artisans.  One  of  its 
members  was  young  William  Bradford,  whose  home  was 
at  Austerfield,  a  few  miles  from  Scrooby.  He  lived  to 
write  the  history  of  the  Pilgrim  emigration  to  America. 
His  name  belongs  on  the  roll  of  honor  by  the  side  of 
that  of  Brewster. 

When  James  I.  assumed  the  Crown,  it  was  soon  evi 
dent  that  the  severities  of  the  last  reign  were  not  to  be  a 
The  Pilgrims  whit  diminished,  but  rather  sharpened.  Such 
m  Holland.  were  the  annoyances  and  perils  of  Robinson's 
church  that  at  length  they  resolved  to  leave  home  and 
country,  and  go  over  in  a  body  to  Holland.  But  when 


TO   THE   PLANTING   OF    CONNECTICUT  91 

they  tried  to  carry  out  their  design,  cruel  hindrances  were 
put  in  their  way  by  the  King's  officers.  At  last,  in  1608, 
they  found  themselves  safely  in  Amsterdam.  The  two 
Independent  congregations  which  had  been  planted  there 
before,  were  engaged  in  disputes,  in  which  the  peace-loving 
Pilgrims  desired  to  have  no  part.  After  a  brief  sojourn, 
although  the  change  involved  a  loss  in  a  temporal  point 
of  view,  they  departed  to  Leyden,  where  they  were  per 
manently  established.  They  had  to  betake  themselves  to 
new  occupations.  Brewster  became  a  printer.  By  pa 
tient  industry  they  managed  to  earn  a  livelihood,  and 
they  won  the  respect  of  their  Dutch  neighbors.  But 
they  were  Englishmen,  and,  glad  though  they  were  to 
escape  persecution,  they  felt  themselves  to  be  strangers 
in  a  strange  land.  They  could  not  be  sure  that  their 
children,  under  the  influences  that  surrounded  them, 
would  follow  in  their  ways.  They  could  not  expect  to  do 
much  in  behalf  of  their  peculiar  religious  ideas  and  prac 
tices.  They  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  it  was  best 
for  them  to  cross  the  ocean  and  to  found  a  Emigration 
community  of  their  own,  on  territory  subject  to  America, 
to  England.  To  this  end  they  entered  into  negotiations, 
which  were  prolonged  and  difficult,  with  the  leaders  of 
the  London  Company.  At  a  time  when  it  seemed  doubt 
ful  whether  anything  would  come  from  this  effort,  Robin 
son  undertook  to  arrange  with  the  Dutch  to  plant  a 
colony,  under  their  protection,  near  their  American  settle 
ment.  But  this  project  was  abandoned  as  soon  as  it  was 
found  practicable  to  make  an  agreement  with  certain 
London  merchants  to  co-operate  with  them,  and  share  in 
the  cost  of  the  voyage  and  first  settlement.  A  patent 
was  procured  from  the  London  Company.  The  King 
refused  a  charter  to  the  projected  colony.  The  Leyden 
brethren  had  sought  to  disarm  apprehension  on  the  part 
of  the  Virginia  Company  by  sending  over  a  document 


92  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

containing  seven  articles  in  which  they  set  forth  their 
position  in  reference  to  the  civil  power.  In  carefully 
chosen  terms  they  went  so  far  as  to  recognize  the  King's 
right  to  appoint  bishops,  among  other  officers  of  the 
realm,  to  govern  dioceses  and  parishes  "  civilly  accord 
ing  to  the  laws  of  the  land."  All  that  James  would  con 
cede  was  a  promise  not  to  molest  them  as  long  as  they 
behaved  peaceably.  There  were  no  means  of  transport 
ing  at  once  more  than  a  part  of  the  Leyden  church. 

Only  a  part,  therefore,  could  go.  The  rest 
to  New  Eug-  were  to  follow  when  they  could.  As  those 

who  were  left  behind  were  the  majority,  they 
retained  Robinson  with  them.  Early  in  July  1620,  their 
brethren  bade  them  farewell  at  Delft  Haven,  and  in  the 
Speedwell,  a  small  vessel  which  they  had  bought,  sailed 
to  Southampton.  There  delays  and  hindrances  awaited 
them ;  and  it  was  not  until  August  15th  that  the  Speed 
well,  and  its  companion,  the  Mayflower,  set  out  on  their 
voyage.  At  the  end  of  about  a  week  both  vessels  put 
in  at  Dartmouth,  because  the  Speedwell  was  declared  to 
be  leaky.  Once  more  they  started,  and  again  the  cap 
tain  and  crew  of  this  vessel  reported  her — falsely,  as  it 
turned  out — un  sea  worthy.  Both  ships  turned  back  to 
Plymouth.  Such  as  were  weak  or  discouraged,  parting 
sadly  with  their  friends,  were  left  behind,  and,  on  Sep 
tember  16th,  the  Mayflower,  now  crowded  with  passen 
gers,  went  forth  on  her  solitary  voyage. 

Writers  who  have  charged  the  Pilgrims  with  impru 
dence  in  braving  the  rigors  of  winter  on  the  New  England 
coast,  forget  the  circumstances  which,  contrary  to  their 
intention,  made  this  inevitable.  On  November  19th, 
they  came  in  sight  of  the  shores  of  Cape  Cod.  They 
found  themselves — not,  however,  as  some  have  supposed, 
through  treachery  on  the  part  of  their  captain — outside 
of  the  limits  of  the  Virginia  Company.  At  first  they  re- 


TO   THE   PLANTING   OF    CONNECTICUT  93 

solved  to  seek  a  place  near  the  Hudson  ;  for  although 
they  knew  that  Northern  Virginia  was  to  be  granted  to  a 
new  company,  the  Council  of  New  England,  they  did  not 
know  that  the  Hudson  would  fall  within  its  boundaries. 
But  after  sailing  for  half  a  day,  such  were  the  difficulties 
of  the  attempt  and  the  opposition  of  the  captain  and  sea 
men,  that  they  returned.  It  was  not  until  December 
2lst— a  part  of  the  interval  having  been  spent  in  explor 
ing  the  cold  and  stormy  coast  by  a  party  sent  out  for  the 
purpose — that  they  landed  on  the  shore  of  Plymouth,  the 
spot  which  they  selected  for  the  site  for  their  New  P]y. 
settlement.  On  November  21st,  in  the  cabin  mouth- 
of  the  Mayflower,  then  in  the  harbor  of  Provincetown,  in 
pursuance  of  an  injunction  of  Eobinson  to  frame  a  form 
of  civil  polity,  and  because  there  were  signs  of  insubordi 
nation  on  the  part  of  certain  laborers,  who  were  disposed 
to  break  loose  from  their  contracts  because  they  were  not 
to  disembark  in  Virginia,  the  Pilgrims  united  in  a  solemn 
compact,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy  : 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  amen.  We,  whose  names  are 
underwritten,  the  loyal  subjects  of  our  dread  sovereign 
lord  King  James,  by  the  grace  of  God  of  ^^  ^ 
Great  Britain,  France,  and  Ireland,  King,  De-  flower  corn- 
fender  of  the  Faith,  etc.,  having  undertaken  F 
for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  advancement  of  the  Christ 
ian  faith,  and  honor  of  our  King  and  country,  a  voyage 
to  plant  the  first  colony  in  the  northern  parts  of  Virginia, 
do,  by  these  presents  solemnly  and  mutually,  in  the  pres 
ence  of  God,  and  one  of  another,  covenant  and  combine 
ourselves  together  into  a  civil  body  politic,  for  our  better 
ordering  and  preservation  and  furtherance  of  the  ends 
aforesaid  ;  and  by  virtue  hereof  to  enact,  constitute,  and 
frame  such  just  and  equal  laws,  ordinances,  acts,  con 
stitutions,  and  offices,  from  time  to  time,  as  shall  be 
thought  most  meet  and  convenient  for  the  general  good 


94  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

of  the  colony,  unto  which  we  promise  all  due  submission 
and  obedience.  In  witness  whereof  we  have  hereunder 
subscribed  our  names  at  Cape  Cod,  the  llth  of  Novem 
ber  [O.  S.],  in  the  year  of  the  reign  of  our  sovereign 
lord  King  James,  of  England,  France,  and  Ireland,  the 
eighteenth,  and  of  Scotland  the  fifty-fourth.  Anno  Dom., 
1620." 

Thus  there  began  the  first  political  community  in 
America  with  a  written  constitution  of  its  own  making. 
There  were  forty-one  subscribers  to  the  compact.  Seven 
of  them  were  servants  or  hired  laborers.  The  remaining 
thirty-four  constituted  "the  colony  proper."  Of  these 
eighteen  were  accompanied  by  their  wives.  Fourteen 
had  minor  children.  Most  of  the  thirty-four  were  from 
Leyden.  Some  had  joined  the  Leyden  men  at  South 
ampton.  While  some  of  the  settlers  were  among  them 
in  consequence  of  the  association  of  the  enterprise  with 
the  merchants  who  were  looking  for  pecuniary  profit, 
the  prevailing  motive  of  the  colony  as  a  whole  was  that 
which  had  moved  the  Pilgrims  to  originate  the  plan.  All 
hoped  to  reap  advantage  from  fishing.  King  James  had 
been  somewhat  propitiated  when  he  was  told  that  the 
Leyden  applicants  were  to  engage  in  this  employment. 
This,  he  observed,  was  the  occupation  of  the  apostles. 
When  the  compact  was  drawn  up,  John  Carver  was 
chosen  Governor.  After  his  death,  in  the  March  follow 
ing,  William  Bradford  was  made  his  successor. 

By  the  terms  of  the  partnership  between  the  mer 
chants  and  the  Pilgrims,  each  emigrant  was  to  have  one 
share  in  the  profits  of  the  undertaking.  One  share  was 
allotted  for  every  ten  pounds  invested.  Every  youth 
above  sixteen  was  to  be  counted  as  a  shareholder.  A 
fraction  of  a  share  was  to  be  credited  to  each  younger 
child.  The  colony  was  to  be  furnished  with  food  and 
other  necessaries  from  the  common  stock.  At  the  end  of 


TO    THE   PLANTING    OF    CONNECTICUT  95 

seven  years  the  accumulated  earnings  were  to  be  divided 
among  the  shareholders.  On  November  21,  1621,  a  vessel 
arrived,  bringing  a  patent  (granted  June  11)  Grant  of  a 
to  the  company  from  the  Council  of  New  Eng-  patent. 
land.  There  were  no  defined  boundaries  for  the  grant. 
Each  emigrant  might  take  up  a  hundred  acres.  Fifteen 
hundred  acres  were  allowed  for  public  buildings.  The 
grantees  were  authorized  to  form  a  government  and  to 
make  laws.  Under  this  patent  the  colony  lived  for  about 
eight  years. 

^Grievous  were  the  sufferings  of  the  Plymouth  settlers 
during  the  first  winter,  but  not  too  great  for  their  courage 
and  patience.  To  range  along  the  coast  in  the  The  first 
midst  of  sleet  and  snow,  in  quest  of  a  suitable  winter. 
location,  proved  to  have  been  only  the  beginning  of  trials. 
To  build  their  log-houses  amid  all  the  exposures  of  mid 
winter  was  the  next  thing  to  be  done.  At  one  time  all 
but  six  or  seven  were  sick.  Before  spring  came,  one-half 
of  their  whole  number  were  in  their  graves  under  the  snow. 
Soon  after  landing  they  had  heard  a  cry  from  savages 
that  sounded  hostile.  A  little  military  band  was  formed, 
with  Miles  Standish  for  a  captain.  Standish  had  attached 
himself  to  the  Pilgrims,  and  came  over  with  them,  al 
though  not  a  member  of  the  church.  On  March  26th,  an 
Indian,  named  Samoset.  who  had  picked  up  a 
little  English  fromlhe  crews  of  fishing-vessels,  The  Indiane< 
came  to  them,  bidding  them  "Welcome."  The  visit  was 
followed  by  the  conclusion  of  a  Treaty  with  his  chief, 
Massasoit,  the  head  of  the  Wampanoags,  whose  hunting* 
grounds  were  on  the  southwest,  near  the  Narraganset. 
A  pestilence  had  prevailed  in  New  England  a  few  years 
before,  and  had  thinned  out  the  native  population.  In 
the  patent  granted  to  the  Council  of  New  England  this 
event  is  referred  to  as  a  providential  circumstance,  fitted 
to  encourage  plans  of  emigration.  It  proved,  indirectly. 


96  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

the  means  of  safety  to  the  Plymouth  settlers.  Peace 
between  the  Pilgrims  and  the  natives  was  imperilled  by 
Thomas  Wes-  au  undertaking  of  Thomas  Weston.  In  1G22, 
ton.  under  a  patent  which  he  had  procured,  he  sent 
out  sixty  men,  by  whom  a  settlement  was  formed  at 
Wessagusett  (now  Weymouth).  Their  disorderly  prac 
tices  excited  the  wrath  of  the  Indians.  Their  lives,  as  well 
as  the  lives  of  the  Plymouth  colonists,  were  saved  by  the 
intervention  of  the  latter.  Several  savages  were  killed  in 
an  encounter  with  Standish  and  two  others.  Robinson, 
when  he  heard  of  it,  lamented  that  some  could  not  have 
been  converted  before  any  were  slain.  Most  of  Western's 
followers  were  aided  in  getting  back  to  England.  A  few 
of  them  were  received  at  Plymouth  and  joined  the  colony. 
In  1625,  a  Captain  Wollaston  attempted  to 
form  another  settlement  within  the  territory 
where  the  town  of  Quincy  is  situated.  Wollaston  gave 
up  the  attempt  and  went  to  Virginia.  Thomas  Mor 
ton,  who  had  been  a  lawyer  in  England,  got  control  of 
the  people  left  behind  by  Wollaston.  The  riotous  ways 
of  Morton's  company,  who,  in  addition  to  other  mis 
chievous  doings,  sold  fire-arms  and  ammunition  to  the 
natives,  moved  Plymouth  to  interfere.  The  "  unruly 
nest"  was  broken  up  without  bloodshed,  Morton  was 
sent  to  England,  and  his  followers  driven  away.  About 
April  15th,  1621,  the  Mayflower  started  on  the  return 
voyage  to  England.  It  carried  back  none  of  the  settlers. 
With  the  Governor  there  was  associated  one  assistant. 
In  1624,  the  number  of  assistants  was  raised~To  five. 
Government  ^ne  Governor  and  assistants  were  elected  by 
at  Plymouth.  £he  "body  of  freemen,  who  consisted  at  first  of 
the  original  settlers,  and,  as  population  spread,  of  such 
as  were  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  freemen  in  the  sev 
eral  towns.  In  1639,  a  system  of  representation  was 
adopted,  each  town  electing  two  representatives.  The 


TO   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT  97 

magistrates  and  deputies  sat  in  one  assembly.  For  a 
time  no  law  went  into  force  without  the  express  sanction 
of  the  body  of  freemen.  The  London  merchants  did  not 
regard  with  favor  the  religious  peculiarities  of  the  colony. 
They  considered  them  a  hindrance  to  its  growth.  From 
time  to  time  there  were  additions  from  abroad,  a  consid 
erable  proportion  of  which  were  from  Leyden.  Robin 
son  died  in  1625,  not  having  been  able  to  carry  out  his 
wish  to  join  the  portion  of  his  people  who  were  making 
for  themselves  a  home  be}rond  the  sea.  In  1624,  the  mer 
chants  sent  over  sixty  persons,  among  whom  was  a  min 
ister,  Lyford  by  name,  who  not  only  calumni 
ated  the  colony  in  his  letters,  but  set  about 
an  attempt  to  establish  in  it  the  Church  of  England.  His 
treacherous  character  was  brought  to  light,  and  he  was 
compelled  to  leave.  The  colonists  were  under  a  contract 
of  service  and  partnership  with  the  mercantile  "Adven 
turers."  It  was  an  improvement  when  an  acre  of  land 
was  given  to  each  head  of  a  family  to  cultivate  for  him 
self.  There  was  a  much  more  beneficial  change  when,  in 
1627,  the  resident  adults — with  the  exception 
of  a  few  who  were  not  considered  worthy  of  of  the  stuck 
the  privilege — became  possessed,  by  purchase, 
of  the  stock  and  land.  There  could  now  be  an  equitable 
distribution  of  the  common  property  among  the  set 
tlers.  In  1630,  a  patent  from  the  Council  of  New  Eng 
land  granted  to  Bradford  and  his  associates  the  territory 
between  denned  boundaries — the  Cohasset  River  on  the 
north,  and  the  domains  of  Pokanoket  on  the  west.  To 
give  them  increased  means  of  trading  and  fishing,  a  tract 
of  land  fifteen  miles  wide,  on  each  shore  of  the  Kennebec 
River,  was  ceded  to  them.  But  there  was  a  reservation 
which  gave  to  the  Council  the  right  to  establish  such  a 
government  as  they  might  wish  to  ordain.  There  was  no 
certainty  that  Gorges  might  not  conclude  to  institute  a 
7 


OS  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

government  for  all  New  England,  of  which  he  should  be 
the  head.  There  was  still  greater  danger  of  legislative 
interference  by  the  Crown.  Against  this  the  patent  of 
the  Plymouth  settlers  afforded  no  safeguard. 

The  colony  gradually  extended,  mainly  along  the  coast. 
In  1641,  there  had  come  to  be  eight  towns,  with  a  popula 
tion  of  two  thousand  five  hundred.  In  all  but 
and  character  one  of  them  there  were  educated  ministers. 
ony>  A  half  century  after  the  landing  at  Plymouth 
there  were  fifty  towns  and  about  eight  thousand  people. 
The  Plymouth  settlers  established  trade  with  the  natives 
on  the  Kennebec  and  Penobscot,  and  to  some  extent  in 
the  valley  of  the  Connecticut.  With  all  their  industry, 
so  sterile  was  the  soil  that  the  colony  remained  poor. 
The  consequence  was  that  as  the  pulpits  became  vacant 
it  became  difficult  to  fill  them  with  a  learned  minis 
try,  and  down  to  1G70  there  appears  to  have  been  no 
provision  for  public  education.  The  spirit  of  the  col 
ony  in  dealing  with  theological  dissidents  and  fanatics 
was  comparatively  mild.  In  1657,  it  was  enacted  that 
Quakers,  who  were  the  occasion  of  much  disturbance, 
should  be  excluded  from  becoming  freemen.  Later,  in 
1671,  it  was  provided  that  freemen  should  be  sober  and 
peaceable  in  their  behavior,  and  orthodox  in  "  the  funda 
mentals  of  religion."  But  the  "  Old  Colony,"  as  it  was 
called,  through  its  entire  history  avoided  harsh  meas 
ures  in  dealing  with  theological  malcontents,  and  not 
seldom  served  as  an  asylum  for  persons  whose  religious 
tenets  or  practices  brought  upon  them  discomfort  in 
the  neighboring  community  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  Ply 
mouth  had  obtained  its  lands  by  fair  purchase  of  the  In 
dians.  Earnest  efforts  were  put  forth  to  convert  them 
to  Christianity.  In  1675,  about  the  time  when  King 
Philip's  War  broke  out,  it  is  estimated  that  within  the 
limits  of  the  colony  there  were  not  less  than  five  or  six 


TO   THE   PLANTING    OF    CONNECTICUT  99 

hundred  "praying  Indians."  Brewster,  the  patriarch  of 
the  colony,  died  in  1644.  He  had  had  the  care  of  the 
church,  officiating  as  preacher  as  well  as  ruling 
elder,  until  1629,  when  Ralph  Smith,  a  regular  Brewster- 
minister  was  settled.  An  abridged  catalogue  of  Brew- 
ster's  library  is  extant.  It  speaks  well  for  his  intellectual 
character,  for  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  books  were 
kept,  not  for  show,  but  for  use.  It  comprised  four  hun 
dred  volumes,  of  which  forty-eight  were  folios  and  one 
hundred  and  seventy-seven  were  quartos.  Besides  nu 
merous  commentaries  on  the  Bible,  and  other  books  of 
theology,  we  find  on  the  list  "  The  Prince  "  of  Machia- 
velli,  Bacon's  "  Advancement  of  Learning,"  Seneca's  writ 
ings — these  all  in  English.  Among  the  non-ecclesiasti 
cal  authors  there  is  found  one  poet  of  merit,  George 
Withers.  Eleven  of  the  books  were  printed  by  Brewster 
himself  in  Ley  den. 

It  is  a  characteristic  feature  of  New  England  from  the 
beginning  that  its  inhabitants  dwelt  together  in  towns. 
In  this  peculiarity,  so  fruitful  in  its  conse 
quences,  political  and  social,  there  was  a 
broad  contrast  with  the  Virginia  settlements,  where,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  large  landholders  lived  apart  from  one 
another  on  their  estates.  The  character  of  the  soil  and 
of  its  products  in  New  England  was  one  main  cause  of 
this  difference.  Another  reason  was  the  interest  of  the 
people  in  religion,  and  their  ecclesiastical  system.  The 
town  was  an  organization  for  united  worship,  as  well 
as  for  the  conduct  of  secular  affairs.  The  inhabitants 
fixed  their  abodes  usually  near  the  "  meeting-house."  Of 
the  significance  of  the  town  in  its  political  bearings, 
more  will  be  said  hereafter. 

A  complete  account  of  the  doings  of  the  Council  of 
New  England  would  contain  the  record  of  various  grants 
of  land,  not  seldom  conflicting  with  one  another,  and  of 


100  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

several  attempts  at  settlement  which  had  but  small  re 
sults.  In  such  proceedings  Gorges  was  actively  con 
cerned.  In  1622,  in  connection  with  John  Ma- 
piutof°New  soft,  he  obtained  the  grant  of  the  territory, 
which  they  named  Laconia,  between  the  Mer- 
rimac  and  the  Kennebec,  and  extending  to  "  the  river  of 
Canada."  Two  settlements  were  begun  where  are  now 
Portsmouth  and  Dover,  but  for  a  long  time  were  with 
difficulty  kept  in  being.  The  Council  undertook  to  di 
vide  its  territory  in  New  England  among  its  individual 
members.  To  one  of  the  twenty  a  portion  about  Cape 
Ann  was  allotted,  but  the  patent  for  it  was  transferred 
by  purchase  to  Plymouth.  There  a  fishing-station  was 
established  by  merchants  in  the  west  of  England.  The 
settlers  there  were  suffered  by  Plymouth  to  remain.  Co- 
nant,  who  had  left  Plymouth  out  of  dislike  for  the  re 
ligious  system  of  the  Pilgrims,  became  their  head.  Ly- 
ford  and  another  delinquent,  Oldham,  both  of  whom  had 
been  expelled  from  Plymouth,  joined  them.  In  162G,  the 
Dorchester  merchants  dissolved  their  partnership  and 
Conant  at  Sa-  gave  UP  their  settlement.  Only  Conant  and  a 
lem.  few  others  remained  there.  These  withdrew 
to  Naumkeag,  afterwards  called  Salem.  The  short-lived 
activity  of  this  unincorporated  Dorchester  company  was 
succeeded  by  another  undertaking,  which  took  its  rise  in 
the  same  place,  but  was  quite  different,  both  in  its  pur 
poses  and  results. 

The  great  Puritan  emigration  which  gave  rise  to  the 

settlements  on  Massachusetts  Bay  was  undertaken,  not  by 

"  Separatists,"  but  by  members  of  the  Church 

tan  eemigra-  of  England  who  had  never  broken  off  their 

connection  with  it,  or  called  in  question  the 

lawfulness  of  a  national  church.     James  I.,  when  he  was 

on  the  way  from  Scotland  to  London,  was  met  by  the 

"  Millenary  petition,"  in  which  upwards  of  eight  hundred 


TO   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT          101 

ministers  of  the  Established  Church  prayed  for  the  aboli 
tion  of  pluralities  and  kindred  abuses,  and  besought  that 
certain  practices,  such  as  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  bap 
tism,  the  interrogatories  to  infants,  the  use  of  the  cap 
and  surplice,  might  be  discarded.  At  the  subsequent 
conference  at  Hampton  Court,  the  Puritan  divines  whom 
the  King  selected  to  be  the  spokesmen  of  their  party,  were 
treated  with  insult  and  derision.  "If  this  be  Tyranny  of 
all  that  your  party  have  to  say,"  said  the  King,  James  L 
"  I  will  make  them  conform,  or  I  will  harry  them  out  of 
this  land,  or  else  worse."  He  took  care  to  keep  his  word. 
He  is  not  to  be  blamed  for  refusing  on  that  occasion  to 
incorporate  in  the  creed  of  the  Anglican  Church  new 
doctrinal  articles,  rigidly  Calvinistic  in  their  tenor,  nor 
can  he  be  blamed  for  not  imposing  the  desired  modifica 
tions  in  the  liturgy  on  those  of  his  subjects  who  might 
be  in  conscience  averse  to  them.  It  is  another  question, 
however,  whether  he  might  not  have  granted  a  measure 
of  liberty  in  matters  of  ritual  without  creating  fresh  con 
tentions  and  divisions.  There  is  no  doubt  that  his  spirit 
in  dealing  with  so  large  a  body  of  educated  and  earnest 
preachers,  whose  services  it  was  most  important  to  re 
tain,  was  insolent  and  arbitrary.  Thenceforward  the 
Puritan  clergy  either  conformed,  unwillingly  and  under 
protest,  to  the  particular  ceremonies  of  which  they  disap 
proved,  or  abstained  from  doing  so,  preferring  to  endure 
the  appointed  penalties  until  a  better  day  should  come. 
Thus  the  Puritans  were  composed  of  a  conforming  and  a 
non-conforming  class.  In  their  long  struggle  during  the 
whole  reign  of  James,  and  in  the  early  years  of  his  succes 
sor,  in  proportion  as  their  hope  of  getting  freedom  for 
themselves  and  of  making  England  what  they  thought 
it  ought  to  be,  waned,  they  would  naturally  revolve  the 
question  whether  it  might  not  be  feasible  to  found  a  new 
community,  to  be  modelled  after  their  own  ideas,  beyond 


102  THE    COLOXIAL    ERA 

the  Atlantic.  If  tiieir  dissatisfaction  with  the  Anglican 
ecclesiastical  system  was  by  degrees  becoming  more  radi 
cal,  it  was  a  silent  change,  which  had  not  grown  to  be  a 
conscious,  definite  conviction. 

The  most  influential  of  the  early  promoters  of  the 
movements  which  led  to  the  settlement  of  Massachusetts 
John  white  was  John  Wnite>  rector  in  Dorchester.  In  his 
parish  there  were  many  who  made  voyages  to 
America  for  fishing  and  trade.  It  was  White  who  had 
put  up  the  shipowners  to  begin  the  settlement  at  Cape 
Ann,  his  motive  being  a  desire  to  promote  the  welfare  of 
the  mariners  visiting  that  coast.  He  wrote  to  Conant  to 
stay  with  the  remnant  of  settlers  at  Naumkeag.  Consul 
tations  were  held  in  Lincolnshire  and  in  London,  as  well 
as  in  the  west  country.  In  March,  1628,  a  grant  of  lands 
Endicott  at  was  ma(le  ^y  tne  Council  of  New  England  to 

Salem.  j^  Endicott  and  others.  lir  included  the 
territory  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Western  Ocean,  and 
from  a  line  three  miles  to  the  north  of  the  Merrimac  to  a 
line  three  miles  to  the  south  of  the  Charles.  Endicott 
himself,  who  was  a  strict  Puritan,  crossed  the  ocean  with 
a  small  company,  and  took  the  place  of  Conant  as  head  of 
the  settlement  at  Naumkeag,  which,  as  a  memorial  of  the 
pacifying  of  the  differences  between  Conant's  people  and 
the  new-comers,  received  the  name  of  Salem.  Prepara 
tions  were  soon  made  for  another  settlement  at  Charles- 
town.  Endicott  visited  Morton's  company,  or  the  rem 
nant  of  it,  at  Merry-Mount,  as  they  now  called  the  place, 
caused  their  May-pole  to  be  cut  down,  and  "  rebuked 
them  for  their  prof anen ess."  Later,  as  we  have  seen,  this 
•  charter  to  disorderly  settlement  was  broken  up  by  the  Ply- 
cbhen/eusa8~  m°uth  people.  Early  in  1629,  the  Dorchester 
company.  Company  was  much  enlarged,  and  procured  a 
royal  charter  under  the  name  of  the  "  Governor  and  Com 
pany  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England."  Besides 


TO   THE   PLANTING    OF   CONNECTICUT          103 

Endicott  and  the  others  with  him,  to  whom  the  grant  of 
land  had  been  made,  there  appear  in  the  list  of  patentees 
the  names  of  Saltonstall,  Theophilus  Eaton,  and  others 
familiar  afterwards  in  New  England  history.  The  com 
pany  was  authorized  to  elect  from  their  own  members 
a  Governor,  Deputy-Governor,  and  eighteen  Assistants, 
and  to  frame  laws  and  ordinances,  not  repugnant  to  the 
laws  of  England,  for  the  regulation  of  their  own  doings, 
and  for  the  government  of  the  inhabitants  of  their  terri 
tory.  They  were  empowered  to  defend  their  colonies  by 
force  of  arms  against  all  invaders  and  disturbers.  On  the 
subject  of  religious  liberty  nothing  was  said.  The  cor 
poration  provided  that  there  should  be  a  local  governor, 
and  Endicott  was  continued  in  that  office.  With  him 
were  to  be  associated  thirteen  counsellors,  a  majority  of 
them  to  be  appointed  by  the  Company.  In  their  instruc 
tions  to  the  settlers,  they  -were  told  to  remember  that  the 
propagation  of  the  Gospel  was  to  be  the  principal  aim,  to 
make  fair  bargains  with  the  Indians  for  the  land,  to  send 
home  persons  disaffected  with  their  government. 

Endicott  was  immediately  reinforced  by  four  hundred 
and  thirty-two  fresh  emigrants,  eighty  of  whom  were 
women,  and  twenty-six  were  children.  The  Endicott  re_ 
vessels  brought  over  tools,  fire-arms,  together  ^forced, 
with  a  large  number  of  cattle  and  goats.  A  part  of  the 
new-comers  settled  at  Charlestown.  Two  of  the  four 
ministers  who  came  over  were  Samuel  Skelton  and  Fran 
cis  Higginson,  who  remained  at  Salem.  Higginson  was 
a  non-conformist  divine  who  was  held  in  high  esteem. 
He  had  been  a  rector  at  Leicester,  and  when  he  was  si 
lenced  by  the  government  he  became  a  "  lecturer  "  to  his 
former  parishioners.  He  wrote  home,  expressing  his 
pleasure  at  the  appearance  of  the  Salem  colony.  "  But," 
he  added,  "  that  which  is  our  greatest  comfort  and  means 
of  defence  above  all  other  is,  that  we  have  here  the  true 


104  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

religion  and  holy  ordinances  of  Almighty  God  taught 
among  us."  There  now  occurred  an  event  of  great  con 
sequence  in  its  relation  to  the  subsequent  history  of  New 
England.  This  was  the  formation  of  a  church, 
Cong  re  ga-  and  the  election  of  Skelton  and  Higginson  to 
L  be  its  ministers  ;  the  former  as  "pastor,"  and 
the  latter  as  "  teacher."  "  Every  fit  member  "  took  part  in 
the  election.  Skelton  was  then  set  apart  for  his  office, 
Higginson  and  several  of  the  "gravest"  men  laying  their 
hands  on  his  head,  and  prayer  being  offered.  In  the 
same  way  Higginson  was  inducted  into  office.  The 
meeting  was  called  by  Endicott.  Contrary  to  the  com 
mon  representation,  it  is  clear  from  the  letter  of  a  wii>- 
ness  who  was  on  the  ground,  that  the  forming  of  the 
church,  on  the  basis  of  a  simple  covenant,  preceded 
the  choice  of  the  ministers.  It  is  not  true,  therefore, 
that  the  community  at  large,  or  the  prominent  persons 
in  it,  acted  in  this  matter  as  a  parish,  distinct  from  a 
church,  might  be  conceived  to  act.  At  a  later  meet 
ing  the  organization  was  completed  by  the  choice  of 
elders  and  deacons,  the  number  of  members  being 
raised  to  thirty.  It  is  not  probable  that  on  this  occa 
sion  the  ministers  were  ordained  anew.  The  steps  taken 
were  in  full  accord  with  the  method  of  "the  Sepa 
ratists,"  which  had  been  deemed  by  the  non-conforming 
Puritans  reprehensible.  Both  the  ministers,  it  should  be 
remembered,  were  ordained  clergymen  in  the  Church 
of  England.  But  the  idea  at  the  basis  of  these  proceed 
ings  was  that  ordination  and  installation  were  equiva 
lent,  and  that  each  signified  the  placing  of  a  minister 
as  an  officer  over  a  flock,  by  an  appropriate  religious 
rite.  In  the  later  system  of  Congregationalism,  ordi 
nation  to  the  ministry  came  to  be  regarded  as  distinct 
from  installation,  and  took  place  once  for  all.  It  was  not 
so  at  the  beginning.  Another  remarkable  circumstance 


TO   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT          105 

is  to  be  noticed.  There  came  from  the  Plymouth  church 
a  delegation  to  recognize  fraternally  the  new  ecclesias 
tical  organization,  at  Salem.  On  the  day  ap-  Fellowship 
pointed  for  the  consummation  of  the  act,  when  Plymouth 
the  covenant  was  renewed,  Governor  Bradford  church- 
and  his  associates  arrived  in  season  to  express  their  ap 
probation  and  fellowship.  Before  the  arrival  of  Skel- 
tori  and  Higginson,  Endicott  had  found  occasion  to  re 
quest  the  physician  at  Plymouth,  Samuel  Fuller,  to  come 
to  Salem  to  minister  to  the  sick.  After  Fuller's  return. 
Endicott  wrote  to  Bradford  a  cordial  letter.  Kef  erring 
to  Fuller,  he  says :  "I  rejoice  much  that  I  am  by  him 
satisfied  touching  your  judgments  of  the  outward  forms 
of  God's  worship."  "It  is,"  Endicott  adds,  "  far  different 
from  the  common  report  that  hath  been  spread  of  you 
touching  that  particular."  The  "  Separatists  "  were  not 
so  far  out  of  the  way  as  he  had  thought  them  to  be. 
Robinson's  prediction  was  fulfilled,  that  his  people  would 
not  find  themselves  at  variance  with  their  non-conformist 
Puritan  brethren,  as  soon  as  both  found  themselves  at  a 
distance  from  the  scenes  of  former  controversy.  More 
over,  not  only  was  a  church,  distinct  from  the  christened 
members  of  the  parish,  formed  at  Salem,  after  the  method 
of  the  Independents,  but  the  Prayer-book  was  dropped. 
It  is  clear  that  the  Salem  colonists,  when  removed  beyond 
the  bounds  of  the  Established  Church  and  hierarchy  of 
England,  and  free  to  think  and  to  act  for  themselves,  fell 
back  on  what  they  now  considered  to  be  the  models  of 
Scripture.  In  the  matter  of  ecclesiastical  changes  they 
advanced  at  once  to  the  goal  which,  imperceptibly  to 
themselves,  they  had  been  really  approaching.  The  non- 
conforming  emigrants  who  came  later  followed  in  the 
same  path. 

But  these  proceedings  at  Salem  were  not  pleasing  to 
all.     Two  brothers,  John  and  Samuel  Browne,  were  mem- 


106  THE    COLONIAL   ERA 

bers  of  the  Council.  They  did  not  approve  the  disuse 
of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and,  with  some  others 
Expulsion  of  wno  were  inclined  to  join  them,  proposed  to 
the  Brownes.  }loi(j  meetings  by  themselves.  The  ministers, 
they  said,  were  Separatists,  and  would  be  Anabaptists. 
Finding  "their  speeches  and  practices  tending  to  mutiny 
and  faction,"  Endicott,  on  the  return  of  the  vessels  the 
same  year,  sent  them  back  to  England.  When  the 
Brownes  made  complaint  to  the  Company,  alarm  was 
felt  lest  the  occurrence  might  give  rise  to  difficulties 
with  the  Government.  An  official  letter  was  written  to 
Endicott  expressing  this  apprehension  and  advising  cau- 
Aiieged  tion.  What  had  been  done,  however,  was 
anc° "  °of  the  consistent  with  the  instructions  of  the  Com- 
Puntaus.  pany.  It  was  intended  that  there  should  be 
uniformity  in  worship  in  the  settlement.  There  was  no 
idea  of  establishing  a  colony  where  diverse  forms  of 
faith  and  modes  of  worship  should  subsist  side  by  side. 
Whatever  judgment  may  be  passed  upon  the  founders  of 
Massachusetts  in  this  matter,  it  is  clear  enough  that  a 
struggle  for  predominance  between  the  rival  sects,  if 
such  sects  had  been  allowed,  would  have  immediately  en 
sued.  The  main  purpose  which  the  colonists  had  in 
view  in  crossing  the  ocean  would  have  been  frustrated. 
"  A  conventicle  of  a  score  of  persons  might  be  harmless  ; 
but  how  long  would  the  conventicle  be  without  its  sur- 
pliced  priest,  and  when  he  had  come,  how  far  in  the  dis 
tance  would  be  a  bishop  armed  with  the  powers  of  the 
High  Commission  ?  "  These  are  the  words  of  an  Ameri 
can  historian,  Dr.  Palfrey.  "It  may  be,"  writes  a  candid 
English  historian,  Mr.  Gardiner,  "  that  the  rulers  of  the 
little  community  were  wise  in  their  resolution.  Their 
own  religious  liberty  would  have  been  in  danger  if  a 
population  had  grown  up  around  them  ready  to  offer  a 
helping  hand  to  any  repressive  measures  of  the  home 


TO   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT          107 

Government."  Obviously  the  difficulty  back  of  all  such 
conflicts  in  those  days,  whether  in  England  or  America, 
was  that,  in  the  absence  of  a  commonly  accepted  princi 
ple  of  religious  liberty,  each  party,  in  case  its  opponent 
should  get  the  power^  had  nothing  to  look  for  but  sub 
jugation.  For  one  party  to  give  ecclesiastical  freedom 
to  its  adversary  was  to  forge  an  instrument  for  its  own 
destruction.  Then  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  a 
colony  is  to  be  distinguished  from  a  full-blown  State. 
The  colony  is  midway  between  the  family  and  the  State. 
The  conditions  of  safety  for  a  political  community  in  its 
cradle  are  not  the  same  as  when  it  has  outlived  the  days 
of  weakness.  Another  English  historian,  Mr.  Doyle, 
who  has  no  predilection  for  the  Puritans,  justly  remarks  : 
"  We  must  not  condemn  the  banishment  of  the  Brownes 
unless  we  are  prepared  to  say  that  it  would  have  been 
better  for  the  world  if  the  Puritan  colony  of  Massachu 
setts  had  never  existed."  It  is  often  said  that  elsewhere 
the  expeiiment  of  different  sects  living  side  by  side  was 
successful.  Rhode  Island  is  adduced  as  an  example. 
But  Rhode  Island  for  most  of  the  seventeenth  century 
was  in  a  state  bordering  on  anarchy,  and  might  have 
been  in  a  worse  condition  had  it  not  been  for  the  stable 
and  well-ordered  governments  in  the  neighboring  colo 
nies.  Maryland  is  also  referred  to  as  an  example.  But 
among  the  settlers  of  Maryland  there  was  not  that  in 
tense  interest  in  religion  which  prevailed  among  the 
Massachusetts  colonists,  and  was  the  mainspring  in  all 
of  their  doings.  There  were  not  the  same  materials  for 
a  conflict  on  this  subject.  We  have  seen,  moreover,  that 
the  Proprietary  in  Maryland  was,  in  fact,  obliged  to  con 
strain,  and  even  to  exclude  from  the  colony,  certain  over- 
zealous  religious  propagandists.  When  religious  discus 
sion  at  length  became  sharp,  toleration  gave  way.  As 
for  Pennsylvania,  not  to  dwell  here  on  other  differences, 


108  THE   COLONIAL   EKA 

it  was  settled  a  half  century  later  than  Massachusetts,  at 
a  time  when  the  fervor  of  religious  controvers}'  was  be 
ginning  to  abate,  and  when  the  impolicy  of  coercion  in 
these  matters  was  more  widely  discerned.  Endicott 
sailed  to  Massachusetts  fifteen  years  before  Penn  was 
born.  Pennsylvania  was  founded  only  seven  years  be 
fore  William  of  Orange  came  to  the  throne.  By  that 
time  experience  had  done  a  great  deal  to  evince  the  in- 
utility  of  coercion  in  matters  of  conscience.  The  New 
England  Puritans  in  some  cases  erred  on  the  side  of 
harshness,  even  in  carrying  out  their  own  principles, 
aside  from  the  character  of  the  principles  themselves. 
But  whatever  may  be  set  down,  fairly  or  unfairly,  to  their 
discredit,  on  the  score  of  intolerance,  it  is  undeniable 
that  they  founded  great  and  enlightened  commonwealths. 
That  a  better  result  would  have  ensued  had  they — the 
circumstances  being  what  they  were — pursued  a  system 
more  consonant  with  modern  ideas,  is  a  speculative 
opinion,  which,  of  course,  it  is  impossible  to  bring  to 
any  practical  test. 

Endicott's  colony  was  only  the  forerunner  of  Puritan 

emigration  on  a  larger  scale.     The  aspect  of  public  affairs 

T   anny   of  ^n  England  soon  became  more  threatening  than 

Charles  I.     ever.     In  March,  1629,  Charles  I.  dismissed  his 

third  Parliament,  and  entered  on  the  experiment,  which 

was  continued  for  eleven  years,  of  governing  England 

without  a  Parliament.     All  signs  portended  either  the 

ruin  of  civil  liberty  or  the  outbreaking  of  civil  war.     In 

1628,  William  Laud  was  appointed  Bishop  of 

London,  and   was  rising    to   the    rank  of   the 

King's   principal  adviser   in    ecclesiastical  matters.     He 

was  introducing  that  system  of  tyranny  which  eventually 

brought  him,  like  his  royal  master,  to  the  block.     His 

policy,  as  petty  as  it  was  inquisitorial  and  arbitrary,  was 

put  into  action  to  extinguish  Puritan  opinions,  and  to 


TO   THE   PLANTING    OF    CONNECTICUT          109 

punish  with  imprisonment  and  death  all  deviations  from 
the  established  ceremonies.  A  large  number  of  men  of 
birth  and  fortune,  residing  in  different  places,  after  con 
sultation  with  one  another,  decided  that  it  was  expedient 
to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  new  England  across  the  sea, 
where  the  principles  which  they  cherished  might  take 
root  and  nourish,  beyond  the  reach  of  regal  and  prelatical 
despotism.  In  1630,  the  Company  of  Massa-  Tranefer  of 
chusetts  Bay  took  the  bold  step  of  transferring  the  Maesachu- 
itself  and  its  charter,  and  thus  the  whole  gov-  pany  to  New 


eminent  of  its  colonists,  to  its  American  settle 
ment.  There  was  no  legal  obstacle  in  the  way  of  such  a 
transfer.  One  of  the  men  who  had  promised  to  emigrate 
in  case  this  movement  should  be  agreed  upon  was  John 
Winthrop,  a  native  of  Groton,  in  Suffolk.  He  John  Win. 
belonged1  to  an  ancient  family  and  was  possessed  thr°P- 
of  a  good  estate.  In  his  youth  he  had  strong  inclinations 
to  the  ministry,  but  he  concluded  to  take  up  legal  studies. 
A  man  of  profound  religious  convictions,  he  was  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  Puritan  cause,  and  ready  to  undergo 
any  sacrifice  for  the  promotion  of  it.  At  this  time,  Win 
throp  was  forty  years  of  age.  His  name  is  inseparably 
associated  with  the  history  of  Massachusetts.  He  blended 
a  resolute  will  with  a  calm  and  magnanimous  spirit.  Al- 
lowmcf  for  the  unavoidable  difference  between  a  Puritan 
gentleman  of  that  day,  and  a  Virginia  gentleman  upwards 
of  a  century  later,  we  may  discern  points  of  likeness  be 
tween  Winthrop  and  Washington.  Both  are  marked  by 
a  certain  grave  self-control  and  dignity  of  character. 

The  Massachusetts  Company  chose  Winthrop  for  its 
Governor  for  one  year.  Among  his  associates  were  other 
persons  scarcely  inferior  in  social  standing.  Such  were 
the  Deputy-Governor,  Humphrey,  and  Isaac  Johnson, 
sons-in-law  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  and  also  the  stew 
ard  of  his  household,  Thomas  Dudley.  Dudley  had 


110  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

fought  on  the  Protestant  side  in  France.  He  was  a  man 
more  austere  in  his  character  than  Winthrop.  The  bulk 
The  great  of.  the  emigrants  then,  as  afterwards,  belonged 
SSf^S?-  to  the  middle  class  of  Englishmen  who  had  ex 
perienced  the  uplifting  influence  of  an  earnest 
religious  faith.  It  may  be  observed  here  that  a  large  ma 
jority  of  the  original  settlers  of  New  England  were  from 
the  eastern  counties  of  the  mother  country.  The  expe 
dition  departed  in  eleven  ships,  carrying  about  seven 
hundred  emigrants.  These  were  followed  in  the  course 
of  the  year  by  about  three  hundred  others.  Erom  the 
ship  in  which  Winthrop  was  about  to  sail,  he  and  some 
of  his  associates  sent  an  address  to  their  "  brethren  in 
and  of  the  Church  of  England.''  "  We  esteem  it,"  they 
said,  'an  honor  to  call  the  Church  of  England,  from 
whence  we  rise,  our  dear  mother,  and  cannot  part  from 
our  native  country,  where  she  specially  residetn,  with 
out  much  sadness  of  heart  and  many  tears  in  our  eyes." 
These  words  were  utterances  of  the  heart,  but  they  were 
not  intended  to  refer  to  the  prelatical  government  or  the 
legal  forms  of  worship  of  the  religious  community  from 
which  the  authors  of  the  address  were  parting.  In  their 
minds  the  Church  was  far  more  than  these,  and  separable 
from  them.  They  had  no  thought  of  being  considered  a 
body  of  schismatics.  It  is  often  forgotten  at  the  present 
rlay  that  the  form  which  Protestant  Christianity  would 
rinally  take  in  England  was  yet  to  be  determined.  The 
ferment  was  not  over  ;  the  crystallization  was  still  in  the 
future.  Within  less  than  a  score  of  years  from  the  de 
parture  of  Winthrop,  Puritanism  was  for  the  time  com 
pletely  in  the  ascendant  in  Church  and  State.  The  most 
of  Winthrop's  company,  it  must  be  supposed,  as  far  as 
ecclesiastical  arrangements  are  concerned,  were  in  a 
state  of  mind  in  which  the  progress  to  Independency 
would  cost  no  struggle.  Not  otherwise  can  we  account 


TO   THE   PLANTING    OF   CONNECTICUT          111 

for  their  adoption  of  that  system  as  soon  as  they  reached 
their  new  abode. 

On  June  22d  (N.  S.),  the  Arbella,  with  Winthrop  on 
board,  arrived  at  Salein.  He  found  the  colony  there  in  a 
distressed  condition.  Many  had  died,  many  The  new  get. 
were  sick,  and  provisions  were  scanty.  One  tiement. 
of  the  ships  was  sent  back  to  England  to  bring  new  sup 
plies  of  food.  Charlestown  was  selected  as  the  place  of 
settlement.  The  new-comers,  however,  found  it  expedi 
ent  to  divide.  Watertown,  Koxbury,  and  some  other 
places  were  settled  by  different  sections  of  them.  At 
Charlestown  a  church  was  organized.  The  proceeding 
was  similiar  to  that  which  had  taken  place  at  Salem. 
John  Wilson,  a  graduate  of  Cambridge,  who  had  been  a 
clergyman  at  Sudbury,  in  Suffolk,  was  chosen  to  be  the 
minister.  He  was  set  apart  by  the  imposition  of  hands, 
without  renouncing  the  ordination  which  he  had  received 
in  the  Church  of  England. 

The  distribution  of  land  was  after  the  plan  which  had 
been  pursued  by  the  Virginia  Company.  To  the  share 
holders  were  given  two  hundred  acres  for  every  Allotment  of 
fifty  pounds  subscribed,  together  with  a  due 
portion  of  the  expected  profits  from  trade.  If  an  emi 
grant,  the  shareholder  was  to  have  fifty  additional  acres, 
and  the  same  number  for  each  member  of  his  family. 
Fifty  acres  were  to  belong  to  each  emigrant  who  was  not 
a  shareholder.  Discretionary  power  was  given  to  the 
Governor  and  Council  to  add  to  the  last  appropriation, 
in  particular  cases. 

The  colony,  notwithstanding  its  strength  and  ample 
preparations,  had  to  pass  through  an  experience  of  pri 
vation  and  misery  like  that  which  befell  pre-  sufferirp  of 
vious  settlements.  Winter  arrived  before  the  the  colony- 
people  were  at  all  prepared  to  encounter  its  rigor.  Even 
before  the  beginning  of  December,  not  less  than  two 


112  THE  COLONIAL  ERA 

hundred  died.  Among  them  was  Lady  Arbella  Johnson, 
the  wife  of  one  of  the  leading  settlers.  Her  bereaved 
husband  soon  followed  her.  About  a  hundred  dis 
heartened  sufferers  returned  to  England.  Through  all 
the  trials  of  that  period,  Winthrop  was  serene  and  stead 
fast.  As  far  as  the  duties  of  his  office  allowed,  he  labored 
with  his  own  hands,  inspiriting  all  around  him  by  his  ex 
ample.  Early  in  February,  a  welcome  supply  of  food 
arrived.  The  Governor  found  it  expedient,  in  connection 
with  many  others,  to  remove  to  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  to  a  site  which  received  the  name  of  Boston.  The 
English  town  of  that  name  was  familiar  to  a  portion  of 
the  settlers.  There  the  Assistants  met  and  the  public 
business  of  the  colony  was  transacted. 

At  first  the  Governor  and  Assistants  were  chosen  by 
the  body  of  freemen.  These  met  four  times  in  the  year, 
Tbe  General  an(^  ^v  them  the  laws  were  enacted.  But  it 

court.  was  foun(i  inconvenient  to  hold  these  meetings, 
and  in  October,  1630,  it  was  left  to  the  Assistants  to  elect 
the  Governor  and  Deputy-Governor,  and  to  frame  the 
laws.  But  this  arrangement,  which  put  so  much  power  in 
the  hands  of  the  Assistants,  gave  rise  to  disaffection.  In 
1631,  the  inhabitants  of  Watertown  refused  to  pay  a  tax 
which  the  Assistants  had  levied.  The  result  was  that  a 
representative  body  was  established.  Two  delegates 
were  to  be  chosen  by  each  town,  and  the  body  of  dele 
gates  was  to  determine  questions  of  taxation.  Soon 
another  change  was  made.  The  legislative  authority, 
which  had  been  vested  in  the  freemen,  was  handed  over 
to  the  General  Court,  which  consisted  of  the  delegates 
from  the  towns,  with  the  Governor  and  Council.  A 
democratic  tendency  developed  itself.  With  this  ten 
dency,  Winthrop,  although  he  did  not  covet  power  for 
himself,  and  aimed  at  nothing  but  the  public  good,  did 
not  sympathize.  Later,  when  the  people  of  Connecticut 


TO   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT          113 

were  forming  a  government,  he  wrote  to  them  :  "  The 
best  part  of  a  community  is  always  the  least,  and  of  that 
least  part  the  wiser  are  still  less."  In  the  impartial  ad 
ministration  of  his  office  he  could  not  avoid  giving 
offence  to  some.  For  a  while  his  popularity  declined. 
In  1634,  he  was  not  chosen  Governor.  A  proposition 
from  leading  Puritans  in  England  to  join  the  colony,  pro 
vided  it  would  establish  distinctions  of  rank,  received  no 
favor.  In  1644,  the  deputies  began  to  sit  as  a 
distinct  body.  'The  form  of  government  was  ties  a  distinct 
now  assimilated  to  the  English  model.  There  y' 
was  one  feature  in  the  political  arrangements  of  marked 
importance.  As  early  as  May,  1631,  it  was  determined 
that  none  should  be  admitted  to  the  exercise  of  polit 
ical  privileges  except  members  of  churches.  T^  .«theoc. 
The  motive  assigned  was  that  "  the  body  of  racy*" 
the  commons  maybe  possessed  of  good  and  honest  men." 
It  was  a  kind  of  theocratic  system  of  rule.  The  founders 
adopted  a  test  which  they  deemed  to  be  most  likely  to 
secure  the  blessing  of  good  government,  and  "to  shut 
out  from  their  counsels  the  emissaries  of  Wentworth  and 
Laud  " — the  minister  and  the  prelate  who  were  working 
together  for  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  enslavement  of 
England. 

The  Congregational  system  gave  to  each  local  church 
the  complete  power  of  self-government,  at  the  same  time 
it  "was  held  that  all  the  churches  were  bound  to  Congrega. 
stand  in  fraternal  relations  one  with  another,  tionaiism. 
and  to  exercise  a  mutual  "watch  and  care,"  analogous 
to  the  care  of  each  church  over  its  individual  members. 
But  the  settlers  of  Massachusetts,  in  common  with  Cal- 
vinists  generally,  while  they  denied  to  the  State  the 
power  to  control  the  Church  within  its  own  province, 
nevertheless  ascribed  to  the  civil  authority  the  right  and 
obligation  to  promote  the  unity  and  well-being  of  the 
8 


114  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

churches,  repress  ecclesiastical  disorder,  and  protect  or 
thodox  doctrine  against  heretical  assaults.  Thus  the 
autonomy  of  the  several  churches  was  qualified  by  the 
superintendence  of  the  General  Court.  The  undefined 
extent  of  this  jurisdiction  of  the  civil  power  left  room  for 
contentions  to  arise  between  the  central  and  the  local 
authority. 

If  Winthrop  and  his  associates  cherished  the  hope  of 
religious  unity  in  the  wilderness  to  which  they  had  with- 
Koger  Will-  drawn,  their  hope  was  speedily  disappointed. 

lams.  rp]-^  grs^  serious  difficulty  was  connected  with 
Roger  Williams.  Less  than  a  year  after  their  arrival  he 
made  his  appearance  among  them.  Williams  was  of 
Welsh  extraction,  was  educated  at  Cambridge,  and  was 
befriended  in  his  youth  by  Sir  Edward  Coke.  He  was  a 
man  of  uncommon  talents,  of  sincere  piety,  and  of  a 
kindly  spirit.  He  was  also  of  a  restless  temperament, 
with  a  certain  antagonistic  element  in  his  nature  which 
made  him  a  bom  polemic  and  propagandist.  He  was  an 
enthusiast,  lacking  that  ingredient  of  hatred  which  turns 
the  enthusiast  into  the  fanatic.  Williams  was  an  extreme 
"  Separatist,"  standing  about  where  Robinson  stood  in 
the  early  stage  of  his  mental  progress  before  he  attained 
a  more  catholic  outlook.  Williams  maintained  that  it 
was  a  sin  to  recognize  any  of  the  parish  churches  in 
England  as  true  churches.  It  was  a  sin,  he  contended, 
even  to  hear  their  pastors  preach.  He  refused  to  minis 
ter  in  the  church  at  Boston,  because  it  had  not  publicly 
renounced  its  fellowship  with  the  churches  as  well  as  the 
Church  of  England.  He  wrote  a  paper  to  disprove  the 
right  of  the  King  to  grant  the  patent,  which  was  the  con 
stitution  of  the  colony.  He  took  no  steps  to  diffuse  this 
doctrine,  but  the  broaching  of  it  in  a  written  disserta 
tion  naturally  created  alarm.  It  opened  the  prospect  of 
a  collision  with  the  English  authorities,  who  would  be 


TO   THE   PLANTING    OF   CONNECTICUT          115 

ready  enough  to  take  notice  of  proofs  of  disloyalty  in  the 
Puritan  colony.  Next,  Williams,  at  Salem,  where  he  be 
came  the  assistant  of  Skelton,  persuaded  Endicott  to  cut 
the  cross  out  of  the  royal  ensign,  an  act  involving  more 
peril  than  the  dangerous  theory  about  the  unlawfulness 
of  the  patent.  Along  with  all  this  hazardous  teaching, 
he  likewise  affirmed  that  the  magistrates  had  no  right  to 
administer  to  those  who  were  not  freemen  an  oath  of  loy 
alty  to  the  colony,  since  he  deemed  it  in  every  case  a  sin 
to  administer  an  oath  to  the  unconverted.  This  was  at 
a  time  when  the  administration  of  this  oath  was  deemed 
essential  to  the  safety  of  the  colony.  Such  were  the  sin 
cerity  and  eloquence  of  the  young  Welshman  that  he  won 
influence,  especially  in  the  Salem  church.  In  connection 
with  various  notions  which  even  now  would  be  gener 
ally  characterized  as  whimseys,  Williams  promulgated 
an  opinion  which  was  novel  at  that  time,  but  one  that  has 
obtained  so  wide  an  acceptance  as  to  confer  on  him  last 
ing  distinction.  He  asserted  that  there  ought  to  be  no 
interference  by  the  State  in  matters  of  religious  belief 
and  worship,  except  so  far  as  is  necessary  for  the  main 
tenance  of  civil  order.  This  doctrine  of  "  soul-liberty  "  was 
not  one  of  the  main  grounds  of  his  expulsion  from  the 
colony,  and  is  not  made  prominent  in  his  own  account  of 
it.  But  it  ripened  in  his  mind  into  an  immovable  convic 
tion,  and  was  the  corner-stone  of  the  political  community 
which  he  founded.  The  General  Court,  by  a  not  very 
large  majority,  passed  a  vote  to  banish  him.  To  avoid 
being  sent  back  to  England,  in  January,  1636, 
he  left  Salem,  accompanied  by  a  few  friends,  founds  PTOY- 
leaving  his  family  behind  him,  and  "  after  be-  ldence> 
ing  sorely  tossed  for  fourteen  weeks,  not  knowing  what 
bread  or  bed  did  mean,"  he  reached  the  shores  of  the 
Xarraganset.  He  had  been  the  sole  minister  at  Salem 
since  1634,  and  might  have  remained  there  until  spring 


116  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

had  he  not  refused  to  desist  from  preaching  in  his  own 
house.  He  had  been  advised  by  Winthrop  to  betake 
himself  to  the  country  of  the  Narragansets.  There  he 
planted  the  city  of  Providence,  on  lands  which  he  pur 
chased  from  the  Indians.  In  his  dealings  with  the  In 
dians  he  was  invariably  just  and  humane.  More  than 
any  other  Englishman  he  was  trusted  by  them.  He 
never  felt  any  malice  towards  the  Puritans  of  Massachu 
setts.  He  spared  no  effort,  and  shrank  from  no  danger, 
in  order  to  prevent  Indian  attacks  upon  them.  For  Win 
throp  he  had  a  special  attachment.  When  hard  ques 
tions  are  to  be  solved,  or  troubles  spring  up  in  his  own 
settlement,  it  is  to  Winthrop  that  he  turns  for  counsel. 

During  the  period  of  the  troubles  respecting  Roger 
Williams,  the  colony  was  strengthened  by  large  reinforce  - 
incr eased  merits  from  England.  Laud  was  promoted  to 
emigration.  tlie  Archbishopric  of  Canterbury.  Thencefor 
ward  there  was  no  security  for  high  or  low  who  ventured 
to  deviate  in  any  particular  from  the  ceremonial  laws. 
In  that  year  not  less  than  seven  hundred  Englishmen 
came  over  to  Massachusetts,  among  whom  were  men  of 
remarkable  talents  and  of  high  repute  at  home.  In  one 
of  the  parties  were  John  Haynes,  a  rich  landholder  from 
Essex,  and  three  eminent  ministers — Stone,  Hooker,  and 
Hooker  and  Cotton.  Of  these  Hooker  and  Cotton  were  the 
stone.  most  distinguished.  All  three  were  educated 
at  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge,  a  great  nursery  of 
Puritan  preachers.  It  is  a  proof  of  the  esteem  in  which 
Thomas  Hooker  had  been  held  in  England,  that  a  petition 
to  Laud  to  revoke  the  decree  that  silenced  him,  was  signed 
by  forty-seven  conforming  ministers.  He  escaped  to  Rot 
terdam,  where  he  became  a  colleague  of  Dr.  Ames,  a  fa 
mous  Independent  preacher,  whose  influence  on  his  opin 
ions,  and  on  Cotton  and  other  English  ministers,  helps 
to  explain  the  modification  of  their  ecclesiastical  views, 


TO   THE   PLANTING    OF   CONNECTICUT          117 

Hooker  returned  to  England  and  contrived  to  elude  the 
agents  of  Laud  by  going  on  shipboard  in  disguise.  John 
Cotton  had  ministered  for  many  years  with  eminent  suc 
cess  in  the  great  church  of  St.  Botolph,  in  Boston,  a  large 
town,  a  few  miles  from  the  sea-coast  of  Lincolnshire. 
The  high  esteem  of  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese  did  not 
avail  to  shield  him  from  the  persecution  of  Laud.  After 
being  concealed  in  London,  he  succeeded  in  going  on 
board  a  ship  in  the  Downs,  and  made  a  safe  passage 
across  the  ocean.  He  was  chosen  to  be  the  colleague  of 
Wilson  in  the  Boston  church.  Stone  and  Hooker  set 
tled  at  Newtown.  In  the  autumn  of  1635,  Henry  Vane, 
then  only  twenty-three  years  of  age,  arrived  Arrival  of 
in  Massachusetts.  His  religious  feelings  and  Vane- 
his  zealous  sympathy  with  Puritanism  had  moved  him  to 
join  the  colony.  The  distinction  of  his  family,  the  high 
station  of  his  father,  who  was  a  Privy  Counsellor,  and  his 
own  attractive  qualities  made  him  at  once  a  leader — a 
position  which  he  was  quite  prompt  to  assume.  At  that 
moment  there  was  no  little  dissension  among  the  princi 
pal  men.  Winthrop  was  thought  by  Dudley  and  others 
to  have  been  too  lenient  in  his  administration.  In  a  free 
conference  explanations  were  made  and  good  feeling  was 
restored.  In  the  spring  of  1636,  Vanej^aa  chos-  Vane  cbosen 
en  Governor,  as  the  successor  of  Haynes,  who  Governor. 
had^followed  Dudley,  and  Winthrop  was  chosen  Deputy- 
Governor.  There  was  a  conservative  party,  which  had  the 
support  of  Cotton,  that  was  averse  to  making  changes  in 
civil  officers ;  but  the  popular  feeling  ran  the  other  way. 

A  more  serious  difficulty  than  the  trouble  caused  by  the 
proceedings  of  Roger  Williams  and  his  novel  opinions,  was 
occasioned  by  the  arrival  in  Boston,  in  1634,  Mrs.  Ann 
of  Mrs.  Ann  Hutchinson.  Among  the  sects  Hutchin60n- 
which  arose  in  the  wake  of  the  Reformation,  those  denom 
inated  Familists,  Antinomians,  and  Anabaptists,  were  in 


118  THE   COLONIAL   KUA 

the  highest  degree  obnoxious  to  the  Protestant  leaders. 
They  were  held  in  abhorrence  by  the  Puritan  settlers, 
not  only  because  their  opinions  were  considered  hereti 
cal,  but,  also,  because  their  tenets  and  practices  were  be 
lieved  to  be  subversive  both  of  morality  and  of  civil 
order.  A  sweeping  condemnation  of  all  the  sectaries 
who  bore  these  names  is  far  from  being  sustained  by  an 
impartial  study  of  the  facts.  Nevertheless,  there  was 
enough  in  the  records  of  the  past  to  account  for  the  in 
tense  feeling  of  antipathy  and  dread  which  prevailed  re 
specting  them.  Mrs.  Hutchiuson  was  a  clever  woman, 
absorbed  in  religious  thoughts  and  speculations,  and 
eager  to  diffuse  her  ideas.  When  her  house  in  Boston 
began  to  be  thronged  twice  in  the  week  by  women,  for 
whose  edification  she  reviewed,  in  a  critical  way,  the  ser 
mons  of  the  previous  Sunday  ;  when  it  was  noised  abroad 
that  she  was  unsparing  in  her  judgments  of  the  clergy, 
all  of  whom,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Cotton  and  her 
brother-in-law,  Mr.  Wheelwright,  were  declared  to  be  in 
darkness  in  regard  to  fundamental  points  of  Christian 
truth,  to  be  under  a  "  covenant  of  works,"  and  not  under 
a  "  covenant  of  grace  ;  "  and  when  her  own  teaching  ap 
peared  to  be  of  a  piece  with  the  mystical  and  Antinomian 
teaching  of  the  Familists,  a  wide-spread  anxiety  and 
strenuous  opposition  were  awakened.  It  was  one  of  her 
Her  opin-  peculiar  doctrines  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  per- 
ions.  sonally  united  with  the  soul  of  every  true  be 
liever.  Another  of  her  opinions  was  that  a  salvable  con 
dition  is  not  proved  by  sanctification  or  a  good  life,  but 
by  an  immediate,  inward  revelation  to  the  soul.  The 
resurrection,  she  taught,  is  spiritual,  and  takes  place  at 
conversion.  Her  theories  were  looked  upon  by  the 
clergy  as  pernicious  in  their  practical  tendencies,  and 
capable  of  being  turned  into  a  warrant  for  looseness  of 
life.  But  her  own  life  was  pure,  and  there  were  many 


TO   TIIK    PLANTING    OF   CONNECTICUT          119 

who  were  drawn  into  sympathy  with  her  ideas.  This 
was  the  case  with  young  Vane.  The  greater  part  of  the 
Boston  church  were  of  the  same  mind.  Even  Cotton, 
whom  in  England  she  had  admired  as  a  preacher,  for 
a  while  did  not  oppose  her,  and  was  counted  by  her 
friends,  and  even  by  some  of  her  clerical  opponents,  as 
one  of  her  adherents.  Wheelwright  was  an  ardent  sup 
porter  of  her  opinions.  On  a  fast-day,  appointed  partly 
to  allay  "  dissensions  "  in  the  churches,  he  preached  an 
exciting1  sermon.  It  was  considered  by  the 

,  -,.,.  .       ..  .   . '  n        Wheel- 

magistrates  to  be  seditious  in  its  spirit,  and  wright's  ser- 
even  to  hint  at  the  use  of  force  ;  although  this 
last  accusation  does  not  appear  to  be  warranted  by  a 
candid  construction  of  its  meaning.  An  ecclesiastical 
synod  sat  at  Newtown  for  three  weeks.  Eighty- two 
opinions  having,  it  was  alleged,  more  or  less  currency, 
were  pronounced  erroneous. 

The  preponderance  of  numbers  was  decidedly  with  the 
adversaries  of  the  new  views.  The  Boston  church  had 
to  give  way.  Cotton  joined  with  his  colleague,  Wilson, 
in  condemning  the  offensive  tenets,  respecting  the  char 
acter  and  bearing  of  which  he  professed  to  have  been  mis 
informed.  Mrs.  Hutchinson  was  publicly  examined  by 
the  ministers,  was  at  last  excommunicated  by  the  church, 
and  obliged  to  leave  the  colony.  Wheelwright  was  ban 
ished.  Six  years  afterwards,  he  wrote  letters  asking  par 
don  for  the  vehement  and  censorious  spirit  which  he  had 
shown.  He  had  failed,  he  confesses,  to  set  his  opinions 
in  a  clear  light,  in  distinction  from  hurtful  errors  advo 
cated  by  others.  The  sentence  of  banishment  against 
him  was  recalled.  His  writings  show  him  to  have  been 
a  trained  theologian  and  a  writer  of  uncommon  force. 
An  order  of  the  court  was  passed  to  the  effect  that  none 
should  be  received  "  to  inhabite  "  within  their  jurisdiction 
"but  such  as  should  be  allowed  by  some  of  the  Magis- 


120  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

trates."  Winthrop  published  a  "  Defence  "  of  this  de 
cree,  in  which  he  writes,  in  reference  to  the  case  of 
Wheelwright  :  "  If  we  conceive  and  find  by  sadd  experi 
ence  that  his  opinions  are  such,  as  by  his  own  profession, 
cannot  stand  with  externall  peace,  may  we  not  provide  for 
our  peace,  by  keeping  off  such  as  would  strengthen  him, 
and  infect  others  with  such  dangerous  tenets  ? "  The 
victory  of  the  Conservatives  was  complete.  In  1637, 
Vane  was  superseded  by  Winthrop.  The  elec- 

Winthrop      ,.  . J     ,     ,        T,  *  ,  ,.     , 

chosen  GOV-  tion  was  warmly  contested.  It  was  ielt  by 
many  that  the  fate  of  the  community  depended 
on  the  result.  Judge  SewaU  says,  in  a  letter  to  Calamy  : 
"  My  father  has  told  me  many  a  time,  that  he  and  others 
went  on  foot  from  Newbury  to  Cambridge,  fourty  miles, 
on  purpose  to  be  made  freemen  and  help  to  strength 
en  Govr.  Winthrop's  Party."  Perhaps  the  theological 
trouble  might  have  had  a  peaceful  solution  had  not  Vane's 
leadership  been  involved  in  it.  He  soon  returned  to 
England  to  take  part  in  larger  contests.  Even  Cotton's 
popularity  was  shaken  for  a  time.  He  had  thoughts  of 
removing  to  New  Haven  ;  "  the  true  ground  wiiereof,"  he 
says,  "  was  an  inward  loathnesse  to  be  troublesome  to 
godly  mindes  and  a  feare  of  the  unprofitableness  of  my 
Ministry  there  [in  Massachusetts],  where  my  way  was  sus 
pected  to  be  doubtfull,  and  dangerous."  In  the  course 
taken  by  the  authorities  in  the  whole  matter,  zeal  for  or 
thodoxy  was  mingled  with  a  sense  of  the  political  dangers 
involved.  It  deserves  to  be  mentioned  that  in  the  midst 
of  the  conflict  Wheelwright  attempted  to  appeal  to  the 
King.  The  appeal  was,  of  course,  disallowed. 

Simultaneously  with   the  troubles  within   the   colony 
which  have  been  narrated,  its  freedom   was   threatened 
Danger  from  from  the  side  of  the  English  Government.     The 
England.      Massachusetts  settlers  were  aware  of   the  im 
portance  of  doing  nothing  to   provoke  the  jealousy  or 


TO   THE    PLANTING    OF    CONNECTICUT          121 

excite  the  hostility  of  the  authorities  in  England.  Their 
policy  was  to  keep  in  the  shade  as  far  as  practicable,  until 
the  polity  of  the  new  community  which  they  were  plant 
ing  should  take  firm  root.  But  this  coveted  quiet  they 
found  it  impossible  to  preserve.  At  the  outset,  it  was 
natural  for  Charles  I.  and  his  counsellors  to  think  that 
their  scheme  of  despotic  rule  in  England  would  be  fur 
thered  by  the  voluntary  exile  of  the  Puritan  emigrants, 
who  were  inflexibly  hostile  to  it.  But  with  the  rapid  in 
crease  of  emigration  which  took  place  as  their  conspiracy 
against  liberty  was  carried  into  effect,  another  apprehen 
sion  arose.  The}"  began  to  fear  that  a  new  power,  involv 
ing  peril  to  their  designs  at  home,  might  be  growing 
up  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Moreover,  dis 
affected  persons  who  returned  to  England,  whether  of 
their  own  accord  or  by  compulsion,  brought  forward 
their  accusations  and  complaints.  Laud  and  his  party 
took  alarm  at  the  representations  that  were  made  con 
cerning  the  spirit  and  doings  of  the  transatlantic  colony. 
One  Ratcliffe,  who  had  been  severely  punished  for  what 
Winthrop  styles  "  most  foul,  scandalous  invectives  against 
our  churches  and  government,  "was  voluble  in  his  charges 
of  disloyalty  against  the  settlers.  Another  enemy  in 
England  was  Morton.  He  was  the  same  who  had  been 
seized  by  Standish,  and  sent  home.  The  next  year  he 
came  back  to  Mount  Wollaston,  but  for  ill-treatment  of 
the  Indians  and  various  "  misdemeanors  "  he  was  again 
shipped  to  England  by  the  magistrates  of  Massachusetts. 
One  Gardiner  was  a  third,  who  for  like  offences  was  ex 
pelled  from  the  colony,  having  been  previously  punished 
with  severity.  In  1634,  an  order  in  Council  detained 
"  divers  ships  now  in  the  river  of  Thames  ready  to  sail 
to  "  New  England.  The  reason  assigned  was  the  frequent 
departure  thither  of  so  many  ill-affected  persons,  "  dis 
contented  not  only  with  civil  but  ecclesiastical  govern- 


THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

merit."  Early  in  1635,  news  came  to  Boston  of  an  inten 
tion  to  send  out  a  General  Governor  for  New  England, 
and  of  the  creation  of  a  special  commission,  with  Laud  at 
its  head,  for  the  unrestricted  management  of 
for  riiiing  the  all  the  American  colonies,  and  for  the  annull 
ing  of  their  charters.  An  order  of  the  Council 
required  the  transmission  of  the  charter  of  Massachusetts. 
The  crisis  put  to  the  test  the  prudence  and  the  courage 
of  the  colonists.  Everything  that  was  prized  by  them, 
Heroic  spirit  anc^  f°r  ^ne  sa^e  °f  which  they  had  made  such 
of  the  colony,  sacrifices — many  of  them  casting  away  ease 
and  affluence  and  prospective  honor  in  their  native  land 
— was  now  in  jeopardy.  The  men  of  Massachusetts  were 
equal  to  the  occasion.  It  was  resolved  to  erect  fortifi 
cations  on  Castle  Island,  and  to  drill  "  unskilful  men  "  in 
military  exercises.  Dudley,  Winthrop,  and  others  were 
appointed  to  direct  and  command  in  any  war  that  "  might 
befall  for  the  space  of  a  year  next  ensuing."  This  was 
in  September,  1634.  In  January  of  the  next  year  the 
advice  of  the  ministers  was  invited.  "  They  all  agreed," 
says  Winthrop,  "  that,  if  a  General  Governor  were  sent, 
we  ought  not  to  accept  him,  but  to  defend  our  lawful 
possessions  (if  we  were  able) ;  otherwise  to  avoid  or  to 
protract."  In  March,  further  preparations  for  armed  re 
sistance  were  made.  The  cannon  were  to  be  mounted  at 
the  fort,  and  beacons  were  made  ready  to  be  kindled  on 
the  discovery  of  danger.  In  order  to  procure  a  sufficient 
supply  of  bullets,  they  were  made  a  legal  tender  of  the 
value  of  a  farthing  apiece.  This  was  the  only  answer 
rendered  by  Massachusetts  to  the  demand  for  the  trans 
mission  of  her  charter. 

In  April,  1635,  the  Council  of  New  England,  despair 
ing  of  success  in  its  undertakings,  surrendered  its  char 
ter  to  the  King,  on  condition  that  its  territory,  a  great 
part  of  which  had  been  given  away  in  patents,  should  be 


TO   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT          123 

apportioned  -among  its  several  members.  The  project 
whicli  had  been  formed  for  destroying  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  Massachusetts  fell  to  the  ground  council  of 
when  it  was  on  the  verge  of  an  attempted  SSeSereSa 
realization.  Mason,  who  wras  one  of  its  princi-  charter, 
pal  authors,  died.  Gorges,  another  leading  instigator  of 
it,  who  was  to  be  the  General  Governor,  was  now  old  and 
took  no  steps  to  carry  out  the  plan.  More  than  all  things 
else,  it  was  the  situation  of  public  affairs  in  England  that 
saved  the  colony  from  the  threatened  attack  on  its  liberties. 
The  contest  provoked  by  Laud's  attempt  to  force  Epis 
copacy  on  Scotland,  and  by  the  struggle  respecting  ship- 
money,  diverted  attention  from  the  affairs  of  a  remote  set 
tlement.  The  Massachusetts  patent  was  for  the  time  safe. 
When  Roger  Williams  left  Salem,  he  spent  the  winter 
among  the  Pokanoket  Indians.  The  natives  were  always 
friendly  to  him.  Had  he  been  able  to  carry 
out  his  ardent  wish,  he  would  have  spent  his  iamTSi^hia 
life  alone  among  them  as  a  missionary.  He  c 
had  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  from  the  chiefs  of  the  Nar- 
ragansettsa  grant  of  land  at  the  head  of  the  Bay.  There 
he  planted  the  settlement  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
Providence.  As  soon  as  he  had  received  enough  from 
flie~safes  of  land  to  settlers  to  make  good  what  he  had 
paid  out,  he  gave  farms  to  new-comers  without  charge. 
With  twelve  other  "  masters  of  families,"  he  formed  a 
republican  government.  They  were  to  admit  whomsoever 
a  majority  of  them  should  approve,  to  a  share  in  their 
privileges.  Constraint  was  to  be  allowed  in  civil  affairs 
onlv.^  In  1638,  Williams  was  immersed  by  an  Anabaptist 
named  Holyman,  and  then  he  himself  immersed  Holy  man 
and  ten  others.  There  was  thus  constituted  the  first 
Baptist  church  in  America,  But  the  restless  spirit  of 
Williams  did  not  permit  him  long  to  remain  content  in 
this  new  ecclesiastical  connection.  He  had  doubts  about 


124  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

a  rite  which  had  come  down  through  the  channel  of  the 
national  and  hierarchical  churches.  He  was  consistent 
at  least  in  his  undying  antipathy  to  these  organizations. 
He  continued  a  Baptist  about  three  months.  Thencefor 
ward  he  stood  aloof  from  all  church  fellowship,  and  be 
came,  like  Vane  and  others,  one  of  the  "Seekers,"  who 
waited  for  a  revived  apostolate,  and  looked  for  a  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth.  However  erratic  he  might  be 
in  his  opinions,  and  pugnacious  in  the  assertion  of  them, 
he  was  never  weary  in  well  doing. 

A  number  of  those  who  were  on  the  side  of  Mrs.  Hutch- 
inson,  including  William  Coddington,  John  Clarke,  Mr. 
settlement  of  Hutchinson  and  the  members  of  his  family, 
Rhode  island.  were  persuaded  by  Roger  Williams,  instead  of 
going  to  Delaware  Bay  or  Long  Island,  as  they  at  first 
designed,  to  settle  on  the  beautiful  island  of  Aquetnet, 
which  lay  beyond  the  limits  embraced  in  the  Plymouth 
patent.  These  nineteen  persons  united  in  a  body  politic, 
entering  into  a  covenant  with  one  another  to  obey  the 
laws  of  God.  They  bought  the  island — which  was  after 
wards  called  the  Isle  of  Rhodes,  or  Rhode  Island — for 
"forty  fathom  of  white  beads."  But  dissensions  soon 
arose  in  the  little  company,  in  which  "individualism"  was 
so  potent  a  force.  Coddington  and  his  adherents  removed 
to  the  southern  end  of  the  island,  and  named  their  place 
of  settlement  Newport.  Those  who  were  left  behind  called 
their  town  Portsmouth.  Before  long  the  two  plantations 
were  politically  united.  Coddington  was  chosen  Governor. 

Wheelwright,    on   his   expulsion   from  Massachusetts, 

moved  northward  and  planted  on  a  branch  of  the  Piscat- 

aqua   River   a   settlement    that   received    the 

The    86tt  G" 

mentsinNew  name   of   Exeter.       Other   adherents    of   Mrs. 

Hutchinson's   party   migrated  to   Cocheco,  or 

Dover,  which  had  been  first  settled  as  early  as  1623.     In 

1637,  one  George  Burdet,  who  had  been  employed  for  a 


TO   THE    PLANTING   OF    CONNECTICUT          125 

year  or  two  as  a  preacher  at  Salem,  was  accepted  at  Dover 
as  a  minister.  He  was  extremely  hostile  to  the  Massa 
chusetts  Puritans,  if  he  had  not  been  their  secret  enemy 
from  the  beginning.  He  acted  as  a  spy  of  Laud.  Knollys, 
an  Anabaptist  of  the  Antinomian  type,  collected  a  church 
after  Burdet  left.  He  was  equally  inimical  to  the  Mas 
sachusetts  colony.  Captain  John  Underbill  was  elected 
Governor  at  Dover.  He  was  a  zealous  Antmomian  in  the 
Hutchinson  controversy,  was  disfranchised,  and  subse 
quently  was  banished  from  Massachusetts.  He  had  made 
at  Boston  a  public  confession  of  gross  immorality,  as  well 
as  of  slanderous  utterances  against  the  magistrates,  but 
no  faith  was  put  in  the  sincerity  of  his  professed  peni 
tence. 

The  ambition  of  Gorges  to  fill  the  post  of  Governor- 
General  was  frustrated  by  the  course  of  events.  When 
the  Council  of  New  England,  in  1635,  was  dis-  GOTe&fea. 
solved,  a  large  district  fell  to  him  as  his  share  Demerits  in 

Maine. 

of  the  territory.  In  1638,  he  procured  a  charter 
from  the  King,  making  him  the  Lord  Proprietary  of  j;his 
extensive  region,  lying  between  the  Piscataqua  and  ]£en- 
nebec  Rivers,  and  reaching  northward  a  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  from  the  sea.  He  was  made  the  supreme 
ruler  in  Church  and  State,  although  it  was  provided  that 
there  should  be  a  representative  body  of  freeholders.  He 
made  his  son  Deputy-Governor,  with  six  Counsellors  at 
his  side,  wrho  were  severally  to  bear  the  titles  of  Chancellor, 
Field-Marshal,  Master  of  Ordnance,  etc.  One  of  the  two 
principal  settlements  was  Again  en ticus,  or  York.  The 
other  was  Saco.  The  municipal  officers  of  York  comprised 
the  majority  of  adult  males.  For  about  ten  years  all  this 
titular  grandeur  was  exhibited  by  a  handful  of  settlers 
in  the  forests  of  Maine. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

NEW  ENGLAND  FROM  THE  PLANTING  OF  CONNECTICUT 
IN  1636  TO  1688 

The  Early  Settlers  in  Connecticut— The  Migration  to  Hartford — 
The  Government  of  the  Three  Towns — The  Founding  of  New 
Haven — Its  Government — The  Fiction  of  the  "Blue  Laws" 
— Settlement  at  Say  brook — Say  brook  Joined  to  Connecticut — 
The  Pequot  War — The  New  England  Confederacy — Commis 
sion  for  the  Management  of  the  Colonies- Samuel  Gorton — 
War  of  the  Narragansetts  and  the  Mohegans— Acts  of  the  Con 
federacy — The  Cambridge  Synod — John  Clarke — Maine  and 
Massachusetts — The  Quakers  in  Massachusetts — The  Naviga 
tion  Law — The  Charter  of  Connecticut— Union  of  New  Haven 
and  Connecticut  Colonies  —  The  Royal  Commission  —  King 
Philip's  War — Annulling  of  the  Massachusetts  Charter — Roy 
al  Government  in  New  England — Andros — Revolution  in  Mas 
sachusetts — Society  in  New  England. 

IN  the  colonization  of  New  England,  next  in  importance 

to  the  planting  of  Massachusetts  was  the  settlement  of 

Connecticut,  or  of  different  centres  in  the  terri- 

Early  settlers 

in  Connect!-  tory  which  now  bears  this  name.  There  were 
claims  of  the  Dutch  on  this  region.  A  Dutch 
captain,  as  we  have  seen,  had  coasted  along  the  southern 
shore,  discovered  the  Housatonic  River,  and  explored  the 
Connecticut.  The  Dutch  built  a  rude  fort  at  Hartford. 
But  the  Plymouth  people,  with  their  usual  promptness 
in  profiting  by  new  openings  for  trade,  had  sent  up  the 
river  a  vessel,  which  fearlessly  passed  by  the  guns  of  this 
fort,  and,  in  1633,  established  a  trading  station  near  the 
mouth  of  Farmington  Kiver,  on  the  site  of  Windsor. 


FROM   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT       127 

John  Oldham,  with  three  companions,  travelled  by  land 
from  Dorchester  to  the  Connecticut.  After  he  came  back, 
in  a  number  of  Massachusetts  towns  the  project  was  dis 
cussed  of  emigrating  to  that  region.  While  this  sub 
ject  was  talked  over,  a  party  from  Dorchester  made  their 
way,  in  1635,  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  Plymouth  fac 
tory.  A  party  from  Watertown  also  began  a  settlement 
at  Wethersfield.  A  few  months  later,  a  company  of  sixty 
f ollowed,  some  of  whom,  on  account  of  the  severity  of  the 
winter  and  their  consequent  sufferings,  returned.  The 
great  migration  to  Connecticut  was  led  by  Thomas 
Hooker,  the  pastor  of  the  church  at  Newtown  The  great 
(now  Cambridge).  From  the  time  of  his  ar-  gj[j$j£n  to 
rival  in  Massachusetts,  his  character  and  tal 
ents  had  commanded  the  highest  respect.  Every  effort 
was  made  to  induce  him,  and  those  who  proposed  to 
accompany  him,  to  continue  in  the  colony.  John  Haynes 
was  the  leading  layman  of  the  party.  But  their  minds 
were  fully  made  up,  partly,  perhaps,  on  grounds  that  were 
not  avowed.  The  principal  reason  assigned  for  depart 
ing  was  Hooker's  opinion  that  the  towns  were  too  near 
one  another.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  Massachu 
setts  political  system,  with  its  close  union  of  Church  and 
State7~was  becoming  distasteful  to  him.  Certain  it  is 
that  in  the  new  community,  of  which  he  was  to  be  the 
principal  founder,  that  system  was  not  adhered  to.  More 
than  the  leaders  in  Massachusetts  he  believed  in  popular 
rights  and  the  diffusion  of  political  power.  In  the  spring 
of  1636,  Hooker  and  Stone,  with  their  congregation,  com 
prising  the  women  and  children  as  well  as  the  men,  one 
hundred  in  all,  set  out  on  their  pilgrimage  through  the 
woods,  driving  their  cattle  before  them.  Their  prudent 
arrangements  made  their  journey,  in  the  beautiful  sea 
son  which  they  chosa  for  it,  comparatively  easy.  At  the 
end  of  a  fortnight  they  reached  Hartford.  People  from 


128  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

Dorchester  and  Watertown  followed  in  the  course  of  the 
summer.  Emigrants  from  Roxbury,  led  by  William 
Pynchon,  selected  as  the  site  for  their  settlement  the 
place  afterwards  known  as  Springfield.  In  the  first  year 
The  govern-  ^ne  government  of  the  settlements  was  in  the 
meat.  hands  of  a  Commission  appointed  by  the  Mas 
sachusetts  authorities.  The  rights  of  the  Plymouth  peo 
ple,  founded  on  prior  occupation,  were  not  duly  regarded 
by  the  men  of  Dorchester.  At  the  end  of  a  year  no 
further  attempt  was  made  by  Massachusetts  to  exercise 
jurisdiction  over  the  lower  towns  on  the  river,  and  when 
the  Indian  hostilities,  into  which  they  were  soon  plunged, 
were  over,  they  framed  their  permanent  government.  In 
this  act  Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Wethersfield  united.  It 
is  an  error,  however,  to  suppose  that  the  towns,  prior 
to  this  act,  considered  themselves  to  be  independent 
communities.  Haynes  was  chosen  Governor.  In  the  or 
ganic  law  that  was  adopted  there  was  no  mention  made 
of  any  exterior  authority,  either  in  America  or  in  England. 
In  distinction  from  Massachusetts,  there  was  no  ecclesi 
astical  test  for  the  admission  of  freemen.  The  towns 
might  admit  to  a  participation  in  political  rights  whomso 
ever  they  chose.  The  Governor  was  to  be  elected  by  the 
freemen,  and  Deputies  were  to  be  chosen  twice  in  the  year. 
While  in  Massachusetts  non  -  freemen  might  propose 
measures  in  town-meeting,  but  were  excluded  altogether 
from  the  suffrage,  in  Connecticut  they  were  given  the 
right  to  vote  in  the  choice  of  Deputies.  These,- together 
with  the  Governor,  and  at  least  four  magistrates,  were  to 
constitute  the  General  Court.  At  a  later  time  the  legis 
lative  body  was  divided  into 'two  houses.  "The  rule  of 
the  Word  of  God,"  in  the  absence  of  special  enactments, 
was  to  be  recognized.  There  were  no  oaths  of  allegiance 
required  except  to  "  the  jurisdiction."  The  new  State 
was  independent.  Provision  was  soon  made  for  the  in- 


FROM   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT       12°" 

corporation  of  new  towns,  on  the  model  of  the  towns  in 
Massachusetts. 

In  the  founding  of  the  colony  of  New  Haven,  John 
Davenport  was  the  clerical  leader.  Davenport  was  the 
soil  of  u .Mayor  of  Coventry.  As  minister  of  Th(,  New  }I;1. 
St.  Stephen's  Church,  Coleman  Street,  London,  veif  colony, 
he  had  provoked  by  his  Puritan  ways  the  displeasure  of 
Laud,  and  being  driven  abroad,  had  served  for  some  time 
as  the  minister  of  an  English  congregation  in  Amster 
dam.  He  came  over  to  America  in  1637,  bringing  with 
him  Theophilus  Eaton,  an  opulent  London  merchant,  who 
had  been  one  of  his  parishioners  at  St.  Stephen's.  They 
declined  to  comply  with  the  solicitation  to  remain  in  Mas 
sachusetts,  and,  in  the  spring  of  1638,  they  planted  the 
place  called  Quinnipiac,  which  the  next  year  was  named 
New  Haven.  On  the  first  Sunday  after  their  landing, 
Davenport  preached  in  the  open  air  under  an  oak.  After 
a  few  days  the  settlers  formed  a  compact  of  civil  order. 
They  agreed  to  proceed,  in  the  .affairs  both  of  Church  and 
State,  according  to  the  rules  of  the  Bible.  After  tak 
ing  a  year  for  reflection  on  the  best  form  of  permanent 
organization,  "the  free  planters,"  meeting  in  a  spacious 
bam,  determined  that  seven  men  should  be  selected,  to 
settle  the  form  of  government.  As  in  Massa-  The  govern. 
chusetts,  it  was  determined  that  the  free  bur-  m^nt- 
gesses,  as  well  as  the  magistrates,  should  be  composed  ex 
clusively  of  church  members.  Davenport  disavowed  the 
theory  that  to  the  Church  in  all  cases  belongs,  to  the  ex 
clusion  of  all  others,  the  right  to  exercise  the  powers  of 
government.  In  his  little  treatise  on  the  subject,  he  dis 
tinguishes  between  "  a  commonwealth  yet  to  be  settled  " 
and  one  "already  settled."  He  defended  the  peculiar 
provision  of  the  New  Haven  Constitution  on  grounds  of 
expediency.  Church  membership,  he  contended,  was  in 
this  case  a;  good  a  test  as  could  be  found  of  competence 
9 


130  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

to  maiie  a  right  use  of  political  privileges.  At  the  outset, 
the  laws  of  Moses,  "  being  neither  typical  nor  ceremonial, 
nor  having  any  reference  to  Canaan,"  were  provisionally 
adopted  as  the  civil  code,  "  till  they  be  branched  into 
particulars."  One  consequence  was  that  English  laws  of 
entail  and  primogeniture  were  avoided.  Another  result 
was  that  the  number  of  capital  offences,  which  at  that 
time  in  England  was  thirty-one,  was  reduced  to  twelve. 
Much  that  has  been  written  about  the  severity  of  penal 
legislation  in  the  Connecticut  settlements  is  mythical. 
The  legend  of  the  "  Blue  Laws  "  is  the  inven- 

Fictiou    of    ,.  .    _    , 

the  "Blue  tion  oi  oamuel  Jreters,  a  mendacious  refugee, 
who,  in  1781,  published  in  England  a  "History 
of  Connecticut."  Included  in  this  odd  medley  of  fact 
and  fiction  are  these  grotesque  enactments,  which  never 
existed  except  in  the  imagination  of  the  author  of  this 
book.  Like  the  colony  having  its  centre  at  Hartford, 
the  New  Haven  colony,  as  far  as  its  Constitution  could 
make  it  so,  was  an  independent  republic.  The  settle 
ment  of  Davenport  and  Eaton  was  rapidly 
planted  near  strengthened  by  new-comers.  In  1639,  Mil- 
ford  was  settled,  and,  about  the  same  time, 
Guilford.  At  first  each  of  the  settlements  in  its  govern 
ment  was  independent  of  the  others,  as  was  not  the  case 
in  Connecticut.  After  certain  preparatory  steps,  the 
three  towns,  in  1643,  were  united  in  one  political  com 
munity.  Eaton  was  chosen  Governor. 

The  population  of  the  town  of  New  Haven  at  this  time 
was  not  far  from  four  hundred.  In  this  estimate  are  in 
cluded  a  large  number  of  servants.  The  New  Haven 
"planters"  were  possessed  of  larger  means  than  the 
settlers  in  the  other  colonies.  They  had  expected  to 
busy  themselves  mainly  in  trade  and  commerce.  But 
the  circumstances  were  such  that  they  were  led  to  devote 
themselves  principally  to  agriculture. 


FROM   THE   PLANTING    OF    CONNECTICUT       131 

In  1631,  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  the  President  of  the 
Council  of  New  England,  made  to  Lord  Say  and  Sele, 
Lord  Brooke,  and  certain  associates,  a  grant  settlement  at 
of  territory  in  New  England  extending  from  Siiybrook. 
Narragansett  River  westward  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  along  the  coast  of  Long  Island  Sound,  and  thence 
to  the  Pacific.  Warwick's  authority  to  bestow  this  pat 
ent  has  by  some  been  questioned.  The  patentees,  in 
1635,  gave  a  commission  to  the  younger  John  Winthrop 
to  take  the  rank  of  Governor,  and  directing  him  to  build 
a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut  Eiver.  Winthrop 
was  educated  partly  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and  had 
travelled  on  the  Continent.  Not  equal  to  his  father  in 
talents,  he  was  still  an  accomplished  man,  of  remarkably 
pleasing  manners.  He  had  followed  his  father  to  Massa 
chusetts,  but  on  the  death  of  his  wife  had  returned  to 
England.  He  had  now  come  back,  and  proceeded  to  do 
the  work  committed  to  him.  He  sent  a  party  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  where  with  the  aid  of  two  cannon 
which  they  had  mounted,  they  prevented  a  Dutch  trad 
ing  vessel  from  sailing  up  the  stream.  A  small  fort  was 
erected  by  Lion  Gardiner,  an  engineer  whom  Winthrop 
brought  over  from  England.  In  1639,  George  Fenwick,  a 
barrister  by  profession,  established  himself  there  with  his 
family,  giving  to  the  place  the  name  of  Say-  Sa,brook 
brook.  In  1644,  for  a  compensation,  he  made  joined  to 

,,       „      ,  ,  111  11        •       T   ,       Connecticut. 

over  the  fort,  as  he  was  probably  authorized  to 
dcHrjrirhe-Proprietors,  to  the  government  of  Connecticut. 
That  colony  had  lost  Springfield,  which  fell  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts.  This  loss  was  partly  made 
up  by  the  acquisition  of  Saybrook,  which  had  kept  the 
Dutch  from  acquiring  power  on  the  river,  and  partly,  also, 
by  the  accession  of  Southampton  on  Long  Island,  a  place 
which  had  been  planted,  as  an  independent  settlement, 
by  about  forty  families  from  Lynn,  in  Massachusetts. 


132  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

When  the  company  led  by  Hooker  and  Stone  threaded 
their  path  through  the  woods,  the  pleasure  which  they 
The  Pequot  f°un(l  in  the  songs  of  the  birds  and  in  the 

War-  spring  flowers  was  not  mingled  with  the  dread 
of  hostile  Indians.  It  was  the  peaceable  state  of  the 
natives  that  rendered  such  a  journey  safe.  But  trouble 
with  them  was  soon  to  arise.  The  scattered  clans  of 
savages  on  the  west  of  the  Connecticut  were  tributary  to 
the  Mohawks,  of  whom  they  stood  in  fear.  East  of  the 
Connecticut  were  the  Mohegans,  and  east  of  the  Mohe- 
gans,  extending  from  the  River  Thames  to  the  western 
border  of  Rhode  Island,  was  the  territory  of  the  power 
ful  tribe  of  the  Pequots.  The  terror  inspired  by  this 
tribe  had  made  the  Indians  on  the  Connecticut  desirous 
that  the  English  should  settle  among  them  as  a  means 
of  protection.  The  Narragansetts,  on  the  east  of  the  Pe 
quots,  had  with  difficulty  preserved  their  independence 
of  them.  The  Pequots  were  sly  in  their  proceedings, 
but  their  enmity  to  the  whites  became  constantly  more 
manifest.  Murders  wrere  committed  for  which  no  redress, 
but  only  smooth  professions  and  promises,  could  be  ob 
tained.  The  cruel  murder  of  John  Oldham,  near  Block 
Island,  roused  the  Massachusetts  government  to  send 
thither  an  expedition  under  Endicott  to  inflict  punish 
ment.  But  the  harsh  doings  of  Endicott  at  Block  Island, 
and  afterward,  when  he  landed  among  the  Pequots,  only 
served  to  exasperate  the  savages,  without  lessening  their 
power.  The  Pequots  endeavored  to  form  an  alliance 
with  the  Narragansetts,  by  whom  they  were  disliked  but 
feared.  This  union,  that  would  have  been  so  dangerous 
to  the  whites,  was  prevented  by  the  magnan- 

The  service    .  ,  .    ,  "., .  ,.  -r, 

of    Roger  imous  and  courageous  interposition  of  Roger 

Williams,  who,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  spent 

several  days  and  nights  in  the  settlements  of  that  tribe  at 

the  time  when  the  Pequot  deputies  were  with  them  for 


FROM   THE    PLANTING    OF   CONNECTICUT       133 

the  purpose  of  inducing  them  to  form  the  league.  Mean 
time  the  cruelties  of  the  Pequots  continued.  Massachu 
setts  and  Plymouth  responded  to  the  application  of  Con 
necticut  for  aid.  Since  the  danger  was  imminent,  without 
waitinsr  for  the  promised  help,  Captain  John 

,         ,       „       .       f  -,!  Mason's 

Mason,  at  the  head  oi  ninety  men,  with  an  successful  at- 
aixfliary  force  of  Mohegans,  and  of  Narragan-  l 
setts  whom  he  persuaded  to  join  him,  succeeded,  at  the 
dawn  of  day,  on  May  26  (O.  S.),  1637,  in  surprising  a 
large  village  of  the  Pequots.  A  fierce  contest  ensued,  the 
wigwams  were  fired,  and  most  of  their  inmates,  as  they 
sought  to  fly,  as  well  as  most  of  the  warriors  who  were  in 
the  combat,  were  slain.  It  was  a  bloody  victory.  The 
Indian  forces  with  Mason,  such  was  their  terror  of  the 
Pequots,  afforded  no  efficient  aid.  The  achievement  was 
the  work  of  the  little  band  of  whites.  The  safety  of  Con 
necticut  was  assured.  The  remnant  of  the  hostile  tribe 
resolved  to  join  the  Mohawks  on  the  Hudson.  By  them 
Sassacus,  the  Pequot  chief,  a  warrior  who  had  reigned 
over  twenty-six  subordinate  sachems,  was  killed.  The 
fierce  tribe  over  which  he  had  ruled,  was  annihilated.  By 
the  destruction  of  the  Pequots  the  eastern  colonies  were 
brought  into  easier  communication  with  Connecticut. 

The  next  event  of  capital  importance  after  the  Pequot 
War  was  the  organization  of  the  New  England  Confed 
eracy,  between  the  four  colonies  of  Plymouth, 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  New  Haven.  England  Con- 
American  history  is  the  record  of  a  continuous  f( 
process  of  union.  Distant  settlements  were  brought  to 
gether  under  larger  colonial  jurisdictions.  From  time 
to  time  colonies  joined  one  another  in  leagues.  At  last 
the  thirteen  colonies  combined  under  a  single  indepen 
dent  government.  An  epoch  in  the  history  of  this  prog 
ress  was  the  formation  of  the  confederacy  of  the  four 
New  England  communities.  It  had  been  discussed  for 


134  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

several  years  before  the  contracting  parties  could  agree 
on  the  terms  of  union.  The  difficulty  lay  partly  in  ef 
fecting  an  adjustment  by  which  the  preponderance  of 
Massachusetts  in  population  and  property  should  be  ade 
quately  recognized.  In  1643,  the  hindrances  were  re 
moved  and  the  Articles  of  Confederation  were  signed. 
The  motives  of  the  measure  are  set  down  in  the  preamble. 
Mention  is  made  of  the  distance  between  the  colonies, 
and  of  the  people  of  several  nations  and  strange  lan 
guages  by  which  they  were  encompassed.  They  felt  the 
need  of  combining  not  only  for  self-protection  against 
the  savages,  but  also  for  common  defence  against  attacks 
from  the  Dutch  on  the  Hudson,  which  might  not  improb 
ably  occur,  as  well  as  against  inroads  of  the  French,  whose 
settlements  lay  on  the  north  and  east  of  the  English 
colonies.  The  Swedes  had  begun  a  plantation  on  the 
Delaware,  but  these  were  not  strong  enough  to  be  for 
midable.  Kieft,  the  Dutch  Governor,  had  already  pro 
tested  against  the  alleged  encroachments  of  the  New 
Haven  people,  had  driven  off  a  party  of  English  settlers 
from  the  western  end  of  Long  Island,  and  had  broken  up 
a  factory  established  by  New  Haven  people  on  the  Dela 
ware.  Another  reason  for  union  was  the  "  sad  distrac 
tions  in  England."  The  issue  of  the  great  civil  contest 
there  could  not  be  foreseen.  It  was  thought  advisable 
to  be  in  readiness  for  unknown  contingencies.  The 
Puritan  colonies  might  be  required  to  look  to  themselves 
alone  for  counsel  and  security.  Eenwick,  who  was  per 
haps  arranging  to  sell  the  Say  brook  fort  to  Connecticut, 
participated  in  the  counsels  of  the  framers  of  the  Con- 
The  terms  of  federacy.  The  Articles  of  Union  established 
Union.  "a  £rm  anj  perpetual ''  offensive  and  defensive 
l3ague  between  the  several  communities.  Each  colony 
was  to  retain  its  independence.  No  two  were  to-  be  re 
solved  into  one  without  the  consent  cf  the  rest.  Levies 


FROM   THE   PLANTING    OF   CONNECTICUT       135 

of  men,  money,  and  of  supplies  for  war,  were  to  be  made 
on  the  colonies  respectively,  according  to  a  defined  ratio. 
In  case  any  colou}r  was  invaded,  the  others  were  to  send 
relief,  the  contributions  of  men  and  money  being  propor 
tionately  fixed.  The  business  of  the  Confederacy  was  to 
be  managed  by  a  Board  of  Commissioners,  two  from  each 
colony,  all  of  whom  were  to  be  church  members.  The 
agreement  of  six  Commissioners  was  to  be  required  for 
the  adoption  of  any  measure.  In  the  absence  of  such  an 
agreement,  the  concurrence  of  the  General  Courts  of  all 
the  colonies  was  to  be  binding.  The  Commissioners 
were  to  choose  an  officer  to  preside  over  them,  but  to 
have  no  other  prerogatives.  The  Commissioners  were  to 
endeavor  to  secure  peace  and  concert  among  the  Con 
federate  colonies,  and  to  pursue  a  firm  and  just  course 
toward  the  Indians.  Fugitives  from  justice  and  run 
away  servants  were  to  be  returned.  The  Maine  settle 
ment  of  Gorges,  between  which  and  the  Puritan  colo 
nies  there  was  no  sympathy,  was  not  embraced  in  the 
Confederacy.  "  They  ran,"  says  Winthrop,  "  a  different 
course  from  us,  both  in  their  ministry  and  civil  admin 
istration."  The  disorderly  condition  of  the  Narragansett 
settlements  furnished  an  additional  reason  for  not  in 
cluding  them.  Some  who  had  left  Massachusetts  for 
Aquetnet  returned.  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  her  family, 
dissatisfied  with  the  system  adopted  there,  migrated  to  a 
place  within  the  Dutch  territory.  She,  with  her  whole 
family,  except  one  daughter,  who  was  taken  captive,  were 
massacred  by  the  Indians. 

The  fall  of  the  royal  power  in  England  placed  the  col 
onies  under  the  immediate  control  of  Parliament.  A 
few  months  after  the  Confederacy  was  formed,  a  new 
Commission  was  created,  of  which  Warwick  was  the 
head,  and  of  which  Say  and  Sele,  Vane,  Pym,  and  Crom 
well  were  among  the  members,  for  the  management  of 


136  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

all  the  English  plantations  in  America.  To  this  commis 
sion  was  given  the  authority  which  had  been  exercised 

by  the  Privy  Council  and  by  the  commission 
sion  for  the  of  Laud.  Early  in  1643,  Roger  "Williams 
5d  the e  cok>-  sailed  from  New  Amsterdam  for  England,  in 

order  to  procure  a  charter  for  Providence 
and  the  adjacent  settlements  on  the  south.  The  party 
then  in  the  ascendant  were  in  sympathy  with  his  ideas 

concerning  liberty  of  conscience.  When  in 
Eoger  wm-  England,  he  published  his  "Key  to  the  Indian 

Languages,"  and  two  controversial  papers  on 
his  favorite  theme  of  "  soul-liberty  "  in  reply  to  Cotton. 
Williams  was  aided  by  his  friend  Vane,  and  in  March, 
1644,  a  charter  was  granted  him.  The  three  towns  of 
Providence,  Portsmouth,  and  Newport  were  incorporated 
as  a  body  politic,  under  the  name  of  "  Providence  Plan 
tations,"  with  authority  to  establish  such  a  form~of  civil 
government  as  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants  should  ap 
prove.  To  the  Commissioners  there  was  reserved  the 
power  "to  dispose  the  general  government"  of  the  com 
munity,  in  respect  to  its  relation  to  the  other  colonies,  as 
they  might  from  time  to  time  see  fit  to  determine.  After 
Williams  returned  with  his  charter,  it  was  a  good  while 
before  order  emerged  out  of  confusion. 

No  interference  with  the  New  England  colonies  was 
attempted  by  the  newly  created  Commission.     Nothing 
Treatment    "beyond  advice  and  persuasion  was  resorted  to 
En-faud?^  by  sudl  of  the  Puritan  leaders  in  England  as 
on.'es.  favored  the  views  of  Williams,  to   mollify  the 

policy  of  Massachusetts ;  and  this  kind  of  intervention 
was  without  effect.  It  was  on  Massachusetts  that  the  bur 
dens  of  the  new  Confederacy  principally  fell.  This  may 
serve  to  explain,  if  it  does  not  excuse,  a  certain  domi 
neering  spirit,  and  an  occasional  stretch  of  authority  on 
the  part  of  that  colony. 


FROM    THE   PLANTING    OF   CONNECTICUT       137 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Con 
federacy,  in  September,  1643,  Winthrop  was  elected  pres 
ident.  The  right  of  Connecticut  to  plant  settlements 
on  Long  Island,  which  was  denied  by  the  Dutch,  was 
recognized.  Indian  troubles  formed  one  of  the  principal 
subjects  of  attention.  There  existed  a  hostile  The  Narra. 
feeling  between  Miantonomo  and  the  Narra-  gansett.?. 
gansetts,  of  whom  he  was  the  chief,  on  the  one  part,  and 
the  Mohegans,  who  were  ruled  by  Uncas,  on  the  other. 
The  Mohegans  were  the  friends  and  allies  of  the  Connect 
icut  settlers.  Indications  that  evil  designs  against  the 
English  were  harbored  by  the  Narragansetts  had  led  the 
Massachusetts  authorities  to  summon  their  chief  to  Bos 
ton,  and  to  require  of  him  explanations.  He  had  lately 
sold  land  to  Samuel  Gorton  and  his  party,  Samucl  Gor. 
whom  the  Massachusetts  authorities  regarded  tou- 
as  lawless  fanatics  and  as  enemies.  Gorton  was  a  clothier 
from  London,  an  enthusiast  who  had  been  expelled  from 
Plymouth  for  behaving  himself  "mutinously  and  sedi 
tiously,"  toward  "  both  magistrates  and  ministers."  He 
went  to  the  northern  settlement  on  Rhode  Island,  where 
he  received  corporal  punishment  for  abusing  the  magis 
trates  and  decrying  their  authority.  Thence  he  removed 
to  the  north  of  the  river  Pawtuxet,  near  Providence. 
Roger  Williams  wrote  of  him  :  "  Master  Gorton,  having 
foully  abused  high  and  low  at  Aquidneck,  is  now  be 
witching  and  bemadding  poor  Providence,  both  with  his 
unclean  and  foul  censures  of  all  the  ministers  of  this 
country  (for  which  myself  have  in  Christ's  name  with 
stood  him),  and  also  denying  all  visible  and  external 
ordinances  in  depth  of  Familism,"  etc.  It  was  a  part 
of  Gorton's  theology  that  the  ministry  and  sacraments 
have  no  rightful  place  among  Christian  disciples.  The 
previous  settlers  who  lived  in  his  neighborhood  applied 
to  the  Massachusetts  government  for  protection,  and 


138  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

placed  themselves  under  its  jurisdiction.  Then  followed 
communications  between  the  magistrates  at  Boston  and 
Gorton's  people,  in  which  the  latter  poured  out  abundant 
abuse  and  menaces.  Moving  over  to  the  south  of  the 
river,  they  purchased  land  of  Miantonomo.  The  sachems 
in  the  vicinity,  however,  who  denied  that  they  owed  any 
allegiance  to  that  chief,  refused  to  sanction  the  purchase, 
and  they,  too,  made  an  application  at  Boston  for  protec 
tion  against  the  intruders.  Then  followed  a  visit  of  the 
Narragansett  chief  himself  to  Boston,  where  the  dispute 
with  the  sachems  was  decided  against  him.  Possibly 
anger,  provoked  by  these  circumstances,  excited  in  him 
the  determination  to  carry  out  at  once  his  thoughts  of 
vengeance.  At  the  head  of  about  a  thousand  warriors 
,  he  marched  against  Uncas ;  but  in  a  battle 

T)p  fpfl.fr      of 

theNarra-  fought  near  the  present  town  of  Norwich  he 
SeMohe-  was  defeated  and  captured.  Uncas  was  left 
by  the  Commissioners,  whom  he  consulted,  to 
decide  upon  the  fate  of  his  prisoner,  who  had  "  treacher 
ously  plotted  and  practised  "  against  his  life.  Apart  from 
other  misdeeds  with  which  the  Narragansett  chief  was 
chargeable,  "  it  was  now  clearly  discovered  to  us,"  writes 
Winthrop,  "that  there  was  a  general  conspiracy  among 
the  Indians  to  cut  off  all  the  English,  and  that  Mianto 
nomo  was  the  head  and  contriver  of  it."  He  was  put  to 
death  by  Uncas. 

A  summons  to  the  Gortonians  at  Shawomet,  the  name 

of  their  settlement,  to  appear  in  Boston  and  respond  to 

Ca  tur-  of    ^ie  cnarges  °f  the  neighboring  sachems,  was 

Gorton    aud   answered  with  railing  and  contempt.     A  force 

his  party.  .  x 

of  men  was  then  sent  which  broke  up  the  set 
tlement  and  brought  nine  of  the  company  as  prisoners 
to  Boston.  Among  them  was  Gorton  himself.  Only  a 
majority  vote  of  the  deputies  saved  him  from  capital 
punishment,  one  of  the  charges  being  "  enmity  to  all  civil 


FROM   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT       139 

authority."  The  sentence  passed  was  a  severe  one,  but 
in  the  course  of  four  or  five  months  the  men  were  re 
leased.  They  were  forbidden  to  remain  in  Massachu 
setts,  or  to  go  to  Providence  or  Shawomet.  They  took  up 
their  abode  on  Rhode  Island. 

The  Commissioners  of  the  Confederacy  sent  to  the 
Swedes  on  the  Delaware  a  remonstrance  against  their 
proceedings  in  driving  out  a  company  of  emi-  Actg  of  the 
grants  from  New  Haven.  To  this  complaint  a  Confederacy. 
satisfactory  answer  was  rendered.  The  Dutch  being  dis 
posed  to  attack  Connecticut,  they  were  informed  that  the 
Confederacy  would  stand  by  its  members.  Massachusetts 
displeased  the  Board  of  Commissioners  by  allowing  a 
Frenchman,  La  Tour,  who  professed  to  be  a  Protestant, 
and  was  contending  with  D'Aulnay  for  the  governor 
ship  of  Acadia,  to  enlist  men  in  Boston.  The  Commis 
sioners  passed  a  law  forbidding  any  State  to  allow  troops 
to  go  forth  "  against  any  people  "  without  the  consent  of 
the  Confederacy. 

'"Parliament,  when  it  was  victorious  in  the  contest  with 
Charles  I.,  naturally  regarded  New  England  with  special 
favor.  In  1642,  New  England  was  exempted  from  the 
payment  of  import  and  export  duties,  which  were  ex 
acted  of  the  other  colonies.  Two  years  later,  Massa 
chusetts  passed  a  law  making  it  a  penal  offence  to  at 
tempt  to  create  a  party  in  favor  of  the  King.  The 
magistrates  ceased  to  take  the  oath  of  alle-  Liberty 
giance  to  him.  But  liberty  and  self-govern-  guarded, 
ment,  which  the  people  were  always  resolute  in  maintain 
ing,  had  still  to  be  guarded.  Massachusetts,  not  without 
doubt  and  misgiving,  allowed  a  commissioned  vessel  of 
Parliament  to  capture  a  ship  in  Boston  harbor  ;  but 
later  the  magistrates  refused  permission  to  a  ship,  not 
provided  with  a  commission,  to  seize  on  a  prize  in  the 
harbor,  and  would  have  sunk  the  offending  vessel  if  the 


140  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

captain  had  not  desisted  from  his  attempt.  The  political 
and  ecclesiastical  revolution  in  England  might  afford  a 
plausible  pretext  to  disaffected  persons  of  various  sorts 
to  set  on  foot  schemes  for  subverting  the  form  of  govern 
ment  established  in  Massachusetts.  Such  people  cun 
ningly  laid  hold  of  whatever  causes  of  discontent  might 
exist,  one  of  which  was  the  limitation  of  suffrage  to 
church  members. 

Among  the  Puritans  in  England,  the  Presbyterians  were 
in  the  ascendant.  The  need  of  union  with  Scotland  in 
the  warfare  against  the  Royalists  raised  them  to  pow 
er.  The  Westminster  Assembly,  which  was  convoked  by 
Parliament  in  1642,  adopted  their  system.  In  New  Eng 
land  the  attachment  to  Independency,  or  Congregation 
alism,  as  it  was  beginning  to  be  called,  was  not  to  be 
shaken.  There  was  a  determination  on  the  part  of  the 
clerical  leaders,  and  among  the  people,  not  to  allow  it 
to  be  superseded  by  the  Presbyterian  any  more  than 
by  the  Episcopal  polity.  But  there  arose  in  Massachu- 
Vassaii  and  se^s  a  faction,  of  which  one  William  Vassall 
ins  party.  was  tne  ^Q^  that  really  aimed  at  nothing  less 
than  the  overthrow  of  the  charter  government  and  the  in 
troduction  of  a  Governor-General  to  be  appointed  in  Eng 
land.  To  bring  in  Presbyterianism  was  one  feature  of 
their  revolutionary  scheme.  A  petition  with  seven  sign 
ers  was  presented  by  them  to  the  Court,  calling  for  re 
forms  and  a  redress  of  grievances.  An  appeal  to  the  au 
thorities  in  England  was  threatened  in  case  their  wishes 
were  not  complied  with.  Such  menaces  were  always 
considered  treasonable.  They  involved  an  attack  on  the 
independence  of  the  colony.  The  magistrates  met  the 
exigency  with  their  accustomed  spirit.  The  plotters  were 
arrested  and  fined.  When  some  of  them  urged  their  cause 
before  the  Commissioners  for  the  Colonies  in  England,  and 
when  Gorton  was  also  bringing  forward  his  list  of  accu- 


FROM   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT       141 

sations,  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  addressed  to 
Parliament  a  dignified,  impressive,  and,  as  it  proved,  an 
effectual  remonstrance  against  an  interference  Address  of 
with  their  "chartered  liberties"  and  with  sett^ to° ?jai-- 
their^weir-Beurg'"  in  "the  remote  part  of  the  liament' 
world  "  to  which  they  had  resorted.  "  Let  not  succeeding 
generations  have  cause  to  lament  " — such  was  their  ear 
nest  and  pathetic  plea — that  "  these  liberties  were  lost 
in  the  season  when  England  itself  recovered  its  own." 
"  We  rode  out  the  dangers  of  the  sea,"  they  said,  "  shall 
we  perish  in  port  ?  " 

In  16^8,  a  synod,  representing  the  four  Confederate  col 
onies,  was  assembled  at  Cambridge,  which  set  forth  the 
Congregational  system  in  explicit  terms,  pro- 

•    •        T~S- •  if          -•  «-i,      n  •  The    Cam- 

Vision  being  made  for  giving  effect  to  the  pnn-  bridge   Syn- 

ciple  of  mutual  fellowship  among  the  churches  od' 
—the  element  in  which  the  New  England  church  polity 
differed  from  bare  Independency.  Some  of  the  churches 
hesitated  about  assembling  in  a  synod  at  the  call  of  the 
civil  magistrates,  lest  the  act  might  carry  in  it  an  unsafe 
concession  to  the  civil  power.  But  objections  of  this 
character  were  waived,  and  the  system  that  was  framed 
still  left  the  magistracy  at  liberty  to  interfere  by  coercive 
measures  in  the  case  of  a  church  that  should  be  deaf  to 
fraternal  counsels  and  obstinately  irregular  or  heretical. 

Massachusetts  acted  uniformly  in  an  independent  spir 
it,  both  with  reference  to  the  government  in  England 
and  in  relation  to  her  colleagues  in  the  Confed-  Massachn- 
eration.  She  declined  to  receive  a  new  char-  Jjjj*8  ™  |^|" 
ter  from  Parliament,  in  exchange  for  the  old  land- 
charter,  not  wishing  to  concede  to  any  branch  of  the 
English  Government  such  a  right  as  a  measure  of  this 
sort  would  imply.  She  continued,  without  authorization 
from  abroad,  to  coin  money,  and  thus  exercised  a  pre^ 
rogative  peculiar  to  sovereignty.  She  declined  two  pro- 


142  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

posals  of  Cromwell,  one  of  which  was  that  her  people 
should  emigrate  to  Ireland,  and  another  that  they  should 
be  transported  to  Jamaica.  In  the  Confederacy  she  re 
in  relation  ^usec^  ^°  accede  to  the  requirement  of  Connect- 
to  the  coufcd-  icut,  even  when  it  was  sanctioned  by  the  vote 

eracy.  .  J 

of  the  Commissioners,  that  the  Springfield 
people,  in  order  to  maintain  the  fort  at  Saybrook,  should 
pay  a  duty  on  exports  sent  down  the  river.  Her  de 
termination  not  to  submit  to  the  control  of  the  Confed 
eracy — even  in  cases  where  the  law  was  on  its  side — 
in  opposition  to  what  she  thought  right  and  expedient, 
was  manifest  in  her  dealings  with  the  Dutch.  The  Con 
necticut  and  New  Haven  colonies  were  incensed  when 
a  Dutch  smuggling  vessel  was  seized  in  New  Haven  har 
bor  by  order  of  Stuyvesant,  the  Dutch  governor  at  New 
Amsterdam.  The  quarrel,  thus  engendered,  dragged  on 
for  several  years.  War  broke  out  between  England  and 
Holland.  The  western  colonies  believed  that  the  Dutch 
were  conspiring  with  the  Indians  to  attack  the  New 
England  colonies,  and  they  wished  to  declare  war  against 
them.  But  Massachusetts  stood  out  against  the  vote  cast 
by  her  three  colleagues.  Connecticut  and  New  Haven, 
unable  to  induce  Massachusetts  to  recede  from  her  posi 
tion,  applied  to  Cromwell  for  help.  He  sent  over  a  fleet 
with  a  land  force  on  board.  Massachusetts  would  go  no 
further  than  to  permit  five  hundred  volunteers  to  be  raised 
within  her  bounds.  But  the  defeat  of  the  Dutch  in  the 
English  Channel,  and  the  conclusion  of  the  war  between 
the  two  nations,  rendered  a  resort  to  force  on  this  side 
of  the  water  needless  and  impossible.  These  were  not  the 
only  cases  in  which  Massachusetts  refused  to  be  bound  by 
the  acts  of  the  Confederacy,  on  grounds  which,  however 
plausible  and  conscientiously  urged,  failed  to  convince 
her  three  allies  that  she  was  not  violating  the  agreement 
which  she  had  made  when  she  entered  into  the  TJnion. 


FROM   THE   PLANTING   OF    CONNECTICUT       143 

The  elevation  of  Cromwell  and  the  growing  influence 
of  the  Independents  in  England  protected  Massachusetts 
against  the  efforts  of  the  mutinous  signers  of  Vassall's 
petition,  and  put  an  end  to  the  project  for  bringing  in 
Presbyterianism.  But  the  same  changes  opened  a  more 
encouraging  prospect  to  enthusiasts  and  fanatics  who 
were  the  foes  of  the  ecclesiastical  system  and  policy  of  the 
confederated  colonies.  Gorton  was  enabled  to 
regain  his  lands.  He  changed  the  name  of 
Shawomet  to  Warwick,  in  honor  of  the  nobleman  who 
had  lent  him  assistance.  There  was  a  strong  motive  for 
the  Narragansett  settlements  to  unite  under 
the  patent  of  Williams,  for  they  were  endan-  pansett  set- 
gered  by  territorial  claims  of  both  Plymouth 
and  Massachusetts.  Yet  three  years  passed  before  the 
union  was  secu?ed,  and  it  continued  only  for  a  like 
period.  Coddington  applied  in  vain  for  the  admission 
of  Rhode  Island  to  the  Confederacy.  In  1651,  Codding 
ton  returned  from  England  with  a  commission,  derived 
from  the  Council  of  State,  to  establish  a  government  over 
the  islands  of  Rhode  Island  and  Canonicut.  This  meas 
ure  encountered  a  strong  opposition  from  a  portion  of 
the  settlers.  The  leader  was  John  Clarke,  who  had  fled 
from  Massachusetts  at  the  time  of  the  Antinomian  con 
troversy.  At  Newport  he  was  the  principal  member  and 
the  minister  of  an  Anabaptist  church — to  use  the  name 
then  current — which  after  a  few  years  was  The  Bap_ 
gathered  there.  The  spread  of  this  sect  had  ^^  ^as- 
led  the  Massachusetts  people,  in  1644,  to  pro-  John  ciarke. 
mulgate  a  law  making  banishment  the  penalty  of  the 
wilful  and  continued  propagating  of  its  tenets.  This 
law  was  not  enforced  on  those  who  deported  themselves 
quietly.  The  President  of  Harvard  College  at  the  time 
when  the  law  was  framed  was  an  avowed  disbeliever  in 
infant  baptism.  After  keeping  away  from  Massachusetts 


144  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

for  fourteen  years,  Clarke,  with  two  companions,  prom 
inent  in  his  sect,  came  to  Lynn  to  visit  a  blind  man,  a 
Baptist  like  themselves.  On  Sunday,  as  the  matter  is 
related  in  Clarke's  own  account  of  it,  not  being  ready  to 
manifest  fellowship  with  the  Puritan  worshippers  by  unit 
ing  with  them  in  divine  service,  and  not  feeling  inwardly 
called  to  enter  their  church  for  the  purpose  of  publicly 
testifying  against  them,  he  discoursed  in  the  house  where 
he  was  staying,  to  his  companions  and  three  or  four 
others,  who  came  in,  he  says,  unexpectedly.  He  was  in 
terrupted  by  the  appearance  of  two  constables.  The 
Rhode  Islanders  were  arrested ;  but  their  fines  were  paid 
either  by  themselves  or  by  others,  with  the  exception  of 
one  of  the  party  who  received  corporal  punishment. 
What  ulterior  object,  if  any,  Clarke  had  in  paying  this 
visit,  and  holding  his  meeting  in  defiance  of  the  law,  it 
is,  perhaps,  unsafe  to  say.  But  any  candid  reader  of 
"111  Newes  from  New  England,"  the  publication  that  he 
put  forth  in  England,  in  which  the  circumstances  are  re 
counted,  will  not  fail  to  see  that  the  opportunity  to  bear 
witness  to  his  opinions  in  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  coun 
try  was  highly  prized,  and  that  his  failure  to  get  up  a 
debate  with  the  ministers  was  a  source  of  disappointment 
to  him.  His  rival,  Coddington,  succeeded  in  setting  up 
Affairs  in  ^s  government.  But  Clarke  was  a  man  of 
Rhode  island,  talents  and  energy.  He  went  to  England,  and 
with  the  aid  of  Roger  Williams,  who  was  also  there,  he 
procured,  in  September,  1652,  the  revocation  of  Codding- 
ton's  commission.  But  dissension  and  contention  con 
tinued  to  prevail  in  the  Narragansett  towns.  "  ifmv  is 
if  "  wrote  Y;uio.  in  KI.'U,  "  th;:t  tliorc  JUT  sudi  divisions 
amongst  you — such  headiness,  tumults,  disorders,  injus 
tice?  .  .  .  Are  there  no  wise  men  amongst  you?" 
etc.  "They  had  brought  on  themselves,"  Williams  told 
them,  the  reputation  of  being  "  a  licentious  and  conten- 


FROM  THE  PLANTING  OF  CONNECTICUT 

tious  people."  This  unhappy  state  of  things  is  partly 
accounted  for  by  the  circumstance  that  Rhode  Island 
served  as  an  asylum  for  eccentric  spirits  who  were  de 
nied  an  abode,  or  found  themselves  uncomfortable,  in 
the  adjacent  colonies.  At  length,  in  1654,  Roger  Will 
iams,  who  was  a  peace-maker,  as  well  as  a  gladiator,  per 
suaded  them  all  to  unite  under  the  charter  which  he  had 
brought  to  them  in  1644.  He  was  himself  chosen  Presi 
dent. 

In  1646,  John  Winthrop,  the  younger,  began  a  plan 
tation  on  the  Pequot  River.  His  settlement  was  only  thirty 
miles  from  the  house  of  Roger  Williams,  who  Coimecticut 
had  moved  into  the  Narragansett  country,  to  »ncl  New 
a  place  near  the  site  of  North  Kingston.  At 
one  time  Williams  thought  it  would  be  well  to  prevail 
on  Winthrop  to  become  the  Governor  of  Rhode  Island. 
The  latter  planted  his  settlement  under  the  auspices  of 
Massachusetts,  but  the  Commissioners  decided  that  it 
belonged  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Connecticut.  In  New 
Haven  colony,  Branford  was  founded,  and,  in  the  Con 
necticut  colony,  Fairfield  and  Stratford.  For  a  consider 
able  time  government  was  administered  in  both  colonies 
with  nothing  more  than  the  rudiments  of  a 
written  code.  The  town  of  Plymouth  gradual 
ly  declined  in  strength,  but  the  colony  prospered,  and  con 
tinued  to  be  distinguished  by  its  upright  and  liberal  spirit. 

Threatening  movements  of  the  Narragansetts  were  re 
newed  in  1645,  and  were  kept  up  for  several  years.     They 
were  anxious  to  wreak  vengeance  on  Uncas  and   The    Narra= 
his  tribe,  and  it  was  thought  that  they  had  in      gansette. 
mind  a  deeper  and  more  extensive  plot.     Finally,  in  1650, 
Captain  Atherton  was  sent   from  Massachusetts  with  a 
squad  of  men  to  bring  their  chief  to  terms.     Atherton 
seized  him  in  his  own  wigwam,  and  compelled  him  to  ful 
fil  his  stipulations. 
'10 


146  THE    COLONIAL    ERA 

"Wintlirop,  "the  father  of  Massachusetts,"  died  in  1649. 
For  a  few  years  after  this  date  there  was  continued  pros- 
Death  of  Win-  Parity  in  the  colony.     The  leading  figure  in 
throp.       public  affairs  was  John  Endicott,  who  grew 
wiser  as  he  grew  older,  and  was  an  efficient  and  useful 
magistrate.     Between  the  years  1652  and  1658,  Massachu- 
Maine  an-  setts  brought  under  its  jurisdiction  the  towns 
Mas\°aCc  h  u°-  °^  ^a^11G-     That  colony  had  never  been  united 
setts.  I5y  its  proprietor,  and  was  mostly  left  to  care 

for  itself.  Moreover,  a  portion  of  the  land,  including  forty 
miles  on  the  coast,  was  claimed,  under  what  was  alleged 
to  be  a  prior  patent,  by  a  member  of  the  Long  Parliament, 
Alexander  Rigby.  Massachusetts  asserted  that  the  grant 
to  Gorges  was  abrogated  by  the  surrender  of  the  Ply 
mouth  Company's  charter  to  the  King,  and,  also,  that  her 
own  boundary  included  the  most  northerly  waters  of  the 
Merrimac,  and  gave  her  the  whole  region  as  far  as  Casco 
Bay.  By  the  annexation  of  the  Maine  settlements  the 
dominion  of  Massachusetts  embraced  the  whole  interven 
ing  territory  north  of  Plymouth.  The  inhabitants  of 
Maine  consisted  of  the  servants  and  agents  of  the  land 
owners. 

The  intrusion  of  the  Quakers,  and  the  tragic  events 
growing  out  of  the  struggle  to  keep  them  out,  form  an 
unpleasant  chapter  in  Massachusetts  history, 
ers  in  Masaa-  The  early  disciples  of  George  Fox  were  often 
of  a  totally  different  spirit  from  the  quiet  and 
kindly  Society  of  Friends  with  which  we  are  familiar. 
If  they  abjured  war  and  practised  non-resistance  as  far 
as  the  use  of  carnal  weapons  is  concerned,  they  made 
up  for  it  by  a  belligerent  use  of  the  tongue.  They  com 
prised  many  fanatics,  on  fire  with  religious  zeal,  conceiv 
ing  themselves  called  of  God  to  pronounce  anathemas 
upon  established  civil  and  ecclesiastical  systems,  and  to 
travel  from  place  to  place  for  the  purpose  of  "  bearing 


FROM   THE    PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT       147 

witness "  against  office-bearers  in  Church  and  State. 
Their  incursion  into  New  England  was  dreaded  like  the 
approach  of  a  pestilence.  If  the  sect  of  Mormons  had 
existed  in  those  days,  the  approach  of  a  swarm  of  mis 
sionaries  of  that  sect  would  have  been  regarded  with  less 
dismay,  for  not  so  much  danger  would  have  been  an 
ticipated  from  their  influence.  In  the  prospect  of  a  visi 
tation  from  the  Quakers,  the  General  Court  of  Massachu 
setts,  in  1056,  passed  a  law  for  the  punishment  of  any 
of  them  who  should  come  into  the  colony,  and  for  the 
sendnrg~ef  -them  "out  of  the  land."  When  they  actu 
ally  arrived,  their  disorderly  conduct  was  such  as  would 
have  subjected  them,  even  in  our  days,  to  police  restraint 
and  legal  penalties.  When  expelled,  they  persisted  in 
coming  back  the  second  and  the  third  time,  and,  it  is 
lamentable  to  relate,  in  pursuance  of  a  law  passed  bv  the 
General  Court  by  a  slender  majority,  but  in  agreement 
with  the  advice  of  the  Federal  Commissioners,  several  of 
them  were  hanged.  When  experience  made  it  evident 
that  harsh  penalties  were  ineffectual,  and  when  capi 
tal  punishment  ceased  to  be  inflicted,  the  wild  doings  of 
these  unwelcome  visitors  did  not  cease.  Some  of  them 
still  continued  to  walk  stark  naked  along  the  streets, 
and  into  the  congregations  met  for  worship.  In  Virginia 
and  other  colonies  there  were  extremely  severe  enact 
ments  against  the  Quakers,  but  there  was  no  infliction  of 
capital  punishment. 

While  the  extravagances  of  the  Quakers  had  the  effect 
to  sharpen  the  weapons  used  against  them,  it  must  here, 
as  always,  be  kept  in  mind  that,  with  the  Pu 
ritans,  to  prevent  the  propagation  of  what  a 
they  considered  hurtful  religious  errors  was  aace> 
held  to  be  an  obligation  of  civil  society.  "  I  look  upon 
toleration,"  said  President  Gates,  of  Harvard  College,  in 
an  election  sermon,  in  1673,  "as  the  first-born  of  all 


148  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

abominations."  "It  was  toleration,"  Cotton  said,  "  that 
made  the  world  anti-Christian."  Nathaniel  Ward,  of 
Ipswich,  in  that  quaint  specimen  of  Puritan  humor, 
"  The  Simple  Cobbler  of  Aggawam,"  writes  :  "  He  that 
is  willing  to  tolerate  any  unsound  opinion  that  his  own 
may  be  tolerated,  though  never  so  sound,  will  for  a  need 
hang  God's  Bible  at  the  devil's  girdle."  When  coercion 
was  used  against  the  Puritans  themselves,  the  sin  ac 
cording  to  their  view  did  not  lie  in  the  use  of  force,  but 
in  using  it,  not  against  pernicious  errors,  but  against 
the  true  Gospel.  In  the  pocket  of  Thomas  Dudley,  when 
he  died,  was  found  a  verse  from  his  own  pen,  in  which 
toleration  was  called  the  egg  that  would  hatch  a  cocka 
trice, 

"  To  poison  all  with  heresy  and  vice." 

It  is  needless  to  reiterate  that  this  idea  of  the  obligations 
of  civil  society  almost  universally  prevailed. 

In  the  Congregational  churches,  especially  in  the  col 
onies'  of  Massachusetts    and    Connecticut,    there   were 

movements  tending  to  lessen  the  strictness  of 
way  cove-  the  requisites  for  church  membership.  Of 

this  character  was  the  adoption  by  many 
churches  of  what  was  called  "  the  Half-way  Covenant." 
This  measure  obtained  the  approval  of  a  synod  which 
met  at  Boston  in  1657.  Adults  who  had  been  baptized 
in  infancy,  but  were  not  considered  by  themselves  or 
others  to  be  regenerated  persons,  were  allowed,  on  con 
dition  of  assenting  to  the  church  covenant  and  agree 
ing  to  submit  to  the  discipline  of  the  church,  to  bring 
their  children  to  baptism.  The  common  idea  that  the 
motive  of  the  change  was  to  open  the  door  to  a  wider  ex 
tension  of  political  rights,  appears  to  be  not  well  found 
ed.  Such  a  consequence  did  not  follow,  as  the  class 
of  persons  referred  to  did  not  vote,  even  in  church  af- 


FROM   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT       149 

fairs.  Moreover,  the  proposal  that  led  to  the  change 
was  first  made  in  Connecticut,  where  the  suffrage  had 
never  been  confined  to  church  members.  Another  inno 
vation  was  to  some  extent  introduced.  The  practice 
sprung  up  of  inviting  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  "  a  means 
of  grace,"  persons  not  morally  unworthy,  who,  neverthe 
less,  had  not  been  received  as  converts  into  communion 
with  the  church. 

As  the  period  of  the  Commonwealth  in  England  drew 
toward  its  close,  several  of  the  New  England  worthies 
passed  away.  Hooker  had  died  in  1647.  The  Death  of  the 
death  of  Brewster,  foremost  among  the  first  f°"nders- 
settlers  at  Plymouth,  had  occurred  four  years  earlier. 
In  1657,  Bradford,  who  had  been  from  the  beginning  a 
main  pillar  of  the  Plymouth  colony,  died.  In  1655,  Ed 
ward  Winslow,  his  associate,  who  had  rendered  great  ser 
vices  to  both  the  Eastern  colonies,  had  gone  before  him. 
Standish,  the  military  leader  at  Plymouth,  died  in  1656. 
In  1652,  John  Cotton,  the  famous  minister  of  Boston, 
was  buried  ;  Haynes,  the  companion  of  Hooker  in  found 
ing  Connecticut,  died  in  1654,  and  Eaton,  the  New  Ha 
ven  Governor,  in  1658. 

On  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts,  in  the  person  of 
Charles  H.,  the  New  England  colonies  knew  not  what  to 
expect.  In  none  of  them  had  Oliver  Cromwell 
or  Richard  ever  been  proclaimed.  In  the  first  n.:  TheVa^- 
year  of  the  new  reign,  a  Council  of  Foreign  ^ 
Plantations  was  established,  with  powers  like  those  which 
ha-1  rested  in  the  Parliamentary  Commission,  previously 
in  charge  of  colonial  affairs.  In  the  new  reign  one  of  the 
early  measures  repugnant  to  the  wishes  of  the  colonies 
was  the  sharpening  of  the  provisions  of  the  Navigation 
Act.  A  loyal  address  from  Massachusetts  was  graciously 
answered.  At  the  same  time,  however,  there  came  an 
order  for  the  apprehension  of  Whalley  and  Goffe,  who 


150  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

had  been  members  of  the  High  Court  of  Justice  that 
condemned  Charles  I.  The  New  England  magistrates, 
The  regi-  especially  those  of  New  Haven,  where  shel- 

cides.  ter  and  protection  had  been  afforded  them  by 
Davenport  and  others,  showed  no  zeal  in  carrying  out 
this  mandate.  On  the  contrary,  they  aided  the  regicides 
to  escape.  These  found  a  safe  and  permanent  asylum 
with  Russell,  the  minister  of  Hadley.  John  Dixwell,  an 
other  of  the  signers  of  the  death-warrant  of  Charles,  spent 
the  closing  years  of  his  life  at  New  Haven,  under  an  as 
sumed  name.  He  died  just  before  the  news  was  received 
of  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary. 

Connecticut  had  made  scarcely  any  delay  in  acknowledg 
ing  the  new  King,  and  won  some  advantage,  in  comparison 
Charter  to  w^h  her  sister  colonies,  by  this  promptitude. 
Connecticut.  \Vinthrop  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  England 
to  see  if  he  could  procure  a  charter.  His  cultui'c,  his 
moderate  temper,  his  influential  friends,  and  his  attrac 
tive  manners,  made  his  mission  fully  successful.  The 
charter  that  he  obtained  was  extremely  liberal  in  its  pro 
visions.  In  its  assignment  of  boundaries,  the 

Union    of    „ 

New  Havea  New  Haven  colony  was  included  within  Con- 
icut  coio-  necticut.  Winthrop  had  engaged  that  New 
Haven  should  not  be  deprived  of  her  freedom 
of  choice  in  this  matter,  in  which  her  very  being  as  a  com 
munity  was  involved.  He  did  not  disregard  his  pledge. 
But  the  desire  of  extension  on  the  part  of  Connecticut 
was  too  strong  to  be  overcome  by  any  remonstrance,  or 
by  the  earnest  and  prolonged  resistance  of  New  Haven, 
backed  by  the  judgment  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Confederacy.  The  authorities  in  England  were  probably 
desirous  of  blotting  out  that  member  of  the  Union  whose 
polity  accorded  with  that  of  Massachusetts.  The  incor 
poration  of  New  Haven  in  Connecticut  was  consummated 
in  1665.  To  John  Davenport  the  blow  was  a  severe  one. 


FROM   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT       151 

He  accepted  a  call  to  be  the  successor  of  Wilson  in  the 
First  Church  in  Boston,  where  he  died  in  1670. 

In  1G633  John  Clarke  obtained  a  new  charter  for  Ehode 
Island  of  unprecedented  liberality.  In  it  was 

.    .  r— '          t         t    ",         "j>  i  if  New    ctai"- 

a   provision   securing   absolute    freedom      in   ter  cf  Rhode 
matters  of  religious  concernments."     Clarke's 
hostility  to  Massachusetts  ways   contributed  to  his  suc 
cess  at  Court. 

On  the  accession  of  Charles,  complaints  were  at  once 
made  to  him  by  the  Quakers  of  the  treatment  which  they 
had  received  in  Massachusetts.  To  the  answer 

<•  n  •   ,  JT       -IT"  T     T   •  Complaints 

ot  the  magistrates  the  King  replied  in  courte-  against  Mas- 
ous  and  gentle  terms,  but  directed  that  offend 
ers  of  that  sect  should  be  sent  to  England  for  trial.  This 
order  the  magistrates  did  not  regard,  since  a  compliance 
with  it  would  have  been  to  part  with  their  own  judicial 
authority  in  all  cases.  They  preferred  to  set  the  Quak 
ers  free.  But  the  Massachusetts  government  took  steps 
adapted  to  secure  favor  at  Court,  one  of  which  was  the 
suppression  of  a  book  by  John  Eliot,  containing  obnox 
ious  theories  of  a  political  nature — a  book  which  he  was 
quite  ready  to  recall.  Two  representatives,  Bradstreet 
and  Norton,  were  sent  to  England  to  meet  accusations 
against  the  colony,  and  to  convey  a  loyal  address  to  the 
King.  About  the  time  of  their  departure  the  General 
Court  passed  an  act  for  a  fresh  coinage  of  silver  money  ; 
a  not  very  timely  proceeding,  considering  the  strained  re 
lations  with  the  English  Government.  The  answer  which 
the  representatives  brought  back,  in  the  autumn  of  1G62, 
was  liberal  in  its  promises  in  relation  to  the  preservation 
of  their  patent  and  charter  ;  but  it  required  that  all  free 
holders  of  competent  estates,  of  orthodox  opinions,  and 
not  vicious  in  conduct  should  have  the  privilege  of  vot 
ing  ;  that  worship  in  the  use  of  the  Prayer  Book  should 
be  allowed  ;  that  the  oath  of  allegiance  should  be  taken 


152  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

by  the  colonists,  and  that  justice  should  be  administered 
in  the  King's  name.     This  last  requirement  was  com 
plied  with,  but  the  other  demands  were  neither  refused 
nor  accepted.     Two  years  later,  a  Royal  Com- 

RoyalCom-         .      .         r          ...  "V- 

mission  from  mission,  consisting  or  tour  persons,  was  ap 
pointed  to  visit  New  England.  The  principal 
member  of  the  Commission  was  Nicolls,  a  man  of  talents 
and  experience.  One  of  his  associates  was  Maverick,  a 
signer  of  the  Presbyterian  petition.  The  expectation  of 
the  coming  of  the  Commissioners,  and  a  sense  of  the 
peril  involved  in  it,  was  one  of  the  motives  that  moved 
New  Haven  to  relinquish  its  opposition  to  the  union  with 
Connecticut.  In  Massachusetts,  a  measure  was  adopted 
for  securing  the  .safe  custody  of  the  charter,  and  mili 
tary  preparations  were  made  to  meet  any  contingency 
that  might  arise.  One  errand  of  the  Commissioners  had 
reference  to  warfare  against  the  Dutch.  In  this  part  of 
their  business  they  were  aided  by  the  General  Court. 
The  Court  likewise  altered  the  law  relating  to  suffrage, 
so  that  freeholders  rated  at  ten  shillings,  and  having 
certificates  of  character  from  the  ministers,  might  vote. 
Charles  had  given  New  Amsterdam  to  his  brother,  the 
Duke  of  York,  the  boundaries  of  the  ceded  territory  be 
ing  declared  to  be  the  Connecticut  and  the  Delaware. 
On  the  surrender  of  New  Amsterdam  to  the  Commis 
sioners,  it  was  agreed  by  them  that  Connecticut  should 
retain  its  territory  on  the  mainland,  but  that  Long  Isl 
and  should  be  attached  to  the  Duke  of  York's  province. 
The  Commissioners  had  no  opposition  to  encounter  in 
Connecticut  or  in  the  other  colonies.  It  was  in  Massa 
chusetts  that  the  conflict  had  to  be  sustained. 
Massa'chl?  They  journeyed  to  Maine,  and  organized  the 
towns  there  which  paid  allegiance  to  Massa 
chusetts,  under  a  government  to  be  managed  by  them 
selves.  They  had  brought  over  two  sets  of  instructions, 


FROM   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT       153 

one  of  which  was  private.  They  would  only  communi 
cate  their  demands,  one  by  one,  to  the  magistrates  in 
Boston.  One  part  of  the  errand  was  to  feel  the  pulse  of 
the  people  and  ascertain  how  the  appointment  of  a  royal 
governor  would  be  received.  When  the  Commissioners 
proposed  to  sit  as  judges,  and  to  hear  an  appeal  from 
the  Governor  and  Company,  they  were  not  permitted  to 
carry  out  their  purpose.  Baffled  and  beaten,  they  retired 
in  wrath.  Circumstances  prevented  them  for  a  consid 
erable  time  from  presenting  their  report  and  complaints. 
Massachusetts,  with  a  politic  generosity,  sent  a  present 
of  masts  to  the  King  for  the  royal  navy,  a  gift  which 
proved  to  be  of  signal  service. 

Eight  years  passed  after  the  victory  over  the  Royal 
Commissioners  ;  the  liberty  of  the  New  England  colonies 
was  still  in  peril,  when  they  suffered  a  new  and  King  PMlip,s 
terrible  calamity  in  the  great  Indian  War,  war. 
which  afflicted  them  all,  but  fell  with  crushing  severity 
on^Plymouth  and  Massachusetts.  For  forty  years,  since 
the  struggle  with  the  Pequots,  peace  had  been  main 
tained  with  the  native  tribes.  The  Indians  had  obtained 
the  use  of  fire-arms,  and  were  keen  marksmen.  On  the 
whole,  they  had  been  treated  with  substantial  justice. 
The  lands  possessed  by  the  whites  had  been  purchased 
at  a  fair  price.  For  hunting  and  fishing,  the  chief  occu 
pations  of  the  natives,  there  wras  ample  room  along  the 
streams  and  in  the  forests.  There  might  be  harsh  and 
cruel  conduct  in  occasional  instances  on  the  part  of  in 
dividuals  among  the  whites,  but  the  colonists,  as  a  rule, 
were  strict  to  mark  such  iniquities  and  to  inflict  condign 
punishment.  There  were  nearly  sixty  thousand  English 
in  New  England,  and  perhaps  an  equal  number  of  In 
dians.  The  whites  dwelt  in  unprotected  towns  and  ham 
lets,  mostly  scattered  along  the  coast.  West  of  the  Ply 
mouth  territory,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Narragansett 


154  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

Bay,  were  the  Pokanokets  or  Wampanoags.  West  of  the 
same  bay  was  the  home  of  the  Narragansetts.  These  were 
the  two  still  formidable  tribes  in  Southern  New  England. 

It  was  the  Pokanokets  who  commenced  the  war 
okcts  begin  against  the  whites,  which  spread  far  and  wide. 

Massasoit,  their  former  chief,  had  been  the  life 
long  friend  and  ally  of  the  English.  At  his  death  he  left 
his  power  to  his  two  sons,  who  took  the  English  names  of 
Alexander  and  Philip.  They  did  not  manifest  the  pacific 
spirit  of  their  father.  Their  disaffection  and  the  jealousy 
and  hostility  of  their  young  warriors  did  not  spring  so 
much  from  any  specific  grievances  of  which  they  could 
make  complaint,  as  from  a  more  or  less  conscious  impa 
tience  of  that  condition  of  dependence  and  constraint  in 
which,  owing  to  inevitable  circumstances,  they  found  them 
selves  placed.  The  fetters  that  rested  on  their  sense  of 
freedom  did  not  chafe  the  less  for  being  accepted  by  them 
in  treaties  into  which  they  had  voluntarily  entered.  Their 
territory  became  more  and  more  curtailed  by  grants 
which  they  could  not  well  avoid  making.  For  any  in 
fraction  of  their  agreements  they  were  called  to  account 
and  restitution  was  punctually  exacted.  Of  their  motives 
and  plans  the  colonists  became  more  and  more  suspi 
cious,  and,  in  most  cases,  probably  on  good  grounds. 
The  penalty  which  was  demanded  of  them  was  the  sur 
render  of  their  guns,  which  their  leaders  were  more  ready 
to  promise  than  they  were  disposed,  or  even  able,  to  per 
form.  Shortly  after  Alexander  had  been  conducted  to 
Plymouth,  to  give  account  of  himself,  he  fell  sick  and 
died.  It  seems  likely  that  Philip  imagined  that  his 
brother  had  been  poisoned.  He  began  thejear,  not  as 
the  result  of  a  deep-laid  conspiracy,  in  which  various 
tribes  were  parties  with  him,  but  out  of  anger  and_  re 
venge,.  The  murder,  by  his  instigation,  of  an  informer, 
who  had  betrayed  his  purpose,  and  the  execution  by  the 


FROM   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT       155 

English  of  .the  murderers,  or  of  the  Indians  who  were  sup 
posed  to  be  guilty  of  the  crime,  was  the  signal  for  the 
commencement  of  the  sanguinary  struggle.  It  opened, 
in  1675,  in  two  attacks  on  the  town  of  Swanzey,  in  the 
Plymouth  colony.  The  houses  were  burned  Horrors  of 
and  the  inhabitants  slaughtered.  For  two  the  wan 
years,  during  which  the  war  lasted,  the  dwellers  in  towns 
and  villages  were  exposed  to  the  sudden,  merciless  as 
saults  of  their  savage  enemies.  Nowhere  could  the  la 
borer  till  the  ground  with  any  feeling  of  security. 
Mother  and  child  went  to  bed  at  night  in  dread  of  being 
awakened  by  the  terrible  cry  of  pitiless  barbarians.  To 
anticipate  the  combination  of  the  Narragan- 

•n       -r»i    -T  -^  i  The      Na?- 

setts  with  Philip,  it  was  necessary  to  attack  rag  an  setts 
that  tribe.  A  brave  and  determined  assault 
was  made  on  their  fort  or  camp,  where  South  Kingston 
now  stands,  by  the  troops  of  Plymouth,  Massachusetts, 
and  Connecticut.  After  desperate  fighting,  and  with  a 
heavy  loss  of  life,  they  defeated  the  Indians  and  burned 
their  wigwams.  The  example  of  Philip  and  his  followers 
was  contagious.  Other  tribes  joined  in  the  war  against 
the  English.  The  towns  in  Western  Massachusetts  were 
visited  with  fire  and  slaughter.  One  of  the  most  fright 
ful  instances  of  massacre  was  the  destruction  of  Lothrop, 
with  nearly  all  his  men,  ninety  in  number,  "  the  flower  of 
Essex,"  at  "  Bloody  Brook,"  in  Deerfield.  The  capture  of 
their  fort  broke  the  power  of  the  Narragansetts.  Canon- 
chet,  their  sachem,  was  taken  by  a  band  of  Connecticut 
volunteers,  and,  for  breaking  treaties,  was  delivered  up 
to  Indian  allies  of  the  whites  to  be  put  to  Death  of 
death.  At  length  Philip  was  driven  to  his  Phi:ip- 
lair,  at  Mount  Hope,  on  the  Narragansett.  Beset  in  this 
place  of  retreat  by  the  troops  under  Captain  Church,  he 
attempted  to  escape  through  the  forces  that  enclosed 
him,  but  was  shot  by  one  of  the  Indian  auxiliaries  of 


156  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

Church.  The  conception  of  Philip  as  having  by  his  ge 
nius  organized  an  extensive  league,  as  a  man  of  princely 
virtues  and  of  heroic  courage,  is  the  mythical  creation 
of  later  writers.  It  is  nearer  the  truth  to  say  that  having 
begun  with  robbing  the  Plymouth  people  of  their  cattle, 
he  gradually  gave  the  reins  to  his  ferocity,  and  by  the 
massacre  of  defenceless  villagers  drifted  into  a  war  which 
spread  of  itself  from,  tribe  to  tribe. 

In  Washington  Irving's  attractive  but  misleading  essay, 
Philip  is  depicted  as  a  chivalrous  "king."  "He  went 
down,"  it  is  said,  "  like  a  lonely  bark,  foundering  amid 
darkness  and  tempest,  without  a  pitying  eye  to  weep  his 
fall,  or  a  friendly  hand  to  record  his  struggle."  There  is  a 
suggestion  of  a  very  different  estimate  of  the  Indian  war 
rior  in  a  sentence  of  the  Puritan  captain,  Church,  who 
says  of  the  fallen  savage  :  "  They  drew  him  thro'  the  Mud 
into  the  Upland,  and  a  doleful  great  naked  beast  he  look'd 
like."  After  the  death  of  Philip  a  year  elapsed  before 
the  war  was  fully  ended.  Besides  the  terrible  loss  of  life 
which  filled  all  the  settlements  with  lamentation,  there 
were  left  heavy  burdens  of  debt  on  the  Eastern  colonies, 
and  a  universal  feeling  of  weakness  and  depression. 

When  Philip's  war  began,  "  the  praying  Indians  "  num 
bered  not  far  from  four  thousand.  Some  of  them,  mostly 
The  Christian  °^  ^ne  Nipmuck  tribe,  proved  treacherous  and 
Indians.  aided  the  enemy.  The  effect  was  a  distrust  of 
the  whole  body,  and  a  panic  which  demanded  that  the 
most  rigid  precautions  should  be  taken  to  keep  them 
from  doing  harm.  The  benevolent  missionary,  Eliot,  and 
another  noble  friend  of  the  Indians,  Daniel  Gookin,  did 
their  utmost  to  dispel  the  prevalent  fear  and  to  protect 
the  objects  of  it.  Bat  they  could  not  quiet  the  prevail 
ing  alarm.  The  Christian  Indians  of  Natick  and  some 
other  places  were  transferred  to  Deer  Island,  in  Boston 
harbor.  They  demonstrated  their  fidelity  to  the  English, 


FROM   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT       157 

and  many  of  them,  formed  into  companies,  lent  effective 
military  assistance. 

But  while  confidence  in  the  Christian  Indians  as  a  body 
was  by  degrees  restored,  the  result  of  the  war  was  to  in 
fuse  into  the  minds  of  the  English  an  intense  Hatred  of  the 
horror  and  detestation  of  the  Indians  generally.  Indians. 
They  were  regarded  as  an  execrable  race,  with  the  worst 
qualities  of  wild  beasts,  but  with  an  amount  of  intelligence 
added  that  rendered  them  far  more  hateful  and  danger 
ous.  It  is  the  feeling  that  commonly  springs  up  at  the 
present  day  among  frontiersmen  in  relation  to  neighbor 
ing  Indian  tribes.  It  finds  expression  in  some  of  the 
sermons  of  Puritan  ministers,  not  usually  lacking  in  hu 
mane  feeling.  The  perpetual  dread  and  heart-rending 
cruelties  from  which  the  colonies  suffered  explain  such 
measures  as  the  offering  by  the  legislatures  of  New  York 
and  New  England  of  large  bounties  for  Indian  scalps. 
Rewards  were  paid  for  the  destruction  of  the  savages  as 
for  the  killing  of  wolves. 

The  circumstances  were  propitious  for  the  undertak 
ing  of  Charles  H.  and  his  advisers  to  deprive  the  New  Eng 
land  colonies  of  their  liberty.  They  were  mak- 

J  *  Attack    on 

ing  a  general  attack  upon  charters  in  England,   the  New  Eng- 

°      ,  ,      land  charters. 

and  charters  whicn  it  was  unrighteous  to  med 
dle  with  might  be  included  with  such  as  deserved  to  be 
annulled.  From  the  date  of  the  absorption  of  New  Haven 
into  the  colony  of  Connecticut,  the  vitality  of  the  Con 
federacy  was  extinct.  There  was  little  chance  for  con 
certed  action  in  the  way  of  resistance  to  well-laid  plans 
of  subiugation.  In  1676,  Edward  Randolph, 

e  xi        IT.       v   -u         •     •   x  Randolph. 

an   emissary  of  the  English  ministry,  a   man 
who  proved  to  be  a  persevering  enemy  of  New  England, 
arrived  in  Boston.    He  was  a  relative  of  John  Mason,  and 
part  of  his  errand  was  to  take  care  of  Mason's  claim  to 
New  Hampshire.     He  brought  complaints  of  the  neglect 


158  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

of  the  Navigation  Act  by  the  Massachusetts  government. 
As  required  by  the  King,  two  messengers,  Stoughton  and 
Bulkeley,  were  sent  to  England,  but  with  powers  carefully 
denned  and  limited.  To  avoid  trouble  respecting  Maine, 
Maine  Massachusetts,  much  to  the  disgust  of  the  King, 

purchased  the  claim  of  Gorges,  which  covered 
the  district  between  the  Piscataqua  and  the  Kennebec. 
The  land  between  the  Kennebec  and  the  Penobscot  was 
held  by  the  Duke  of  York.  Maine  was  now  governed  as 
a  separate  province  by  Massachusetts.  In  1679,  against 
New  Hamp-  the  wishes  of  the  New  Hampshire  towns,  they 
were  separated  from  Massachusetts,  and  organ 
ized  as  a  royal  province.  In  1682,  Edward  Cranfield  was 
made  Governor — a  greedy  adventurer,  who  was  clothed 
with  almost  absolute  power,  and  whose  misgovemment, 
running  through  several  years,  became  at  last  unbearable. 
In  1685,  to  avoid  deposition  by  the  English  Government, 
he  fled  to  the  West  Indies.  But  his  departure  did  not 
end  the  period  of  tyranny  and  anarchy  in  New  Hamp 
shire,  which  lasted  until  the  union  was  renewed  with  Mas 
sachusetts.  The  merchants  and  manufacturers  in  Eng 
land  clamored  for  the  enforcement  of  the  Navigation 
Act  in  this  colony.  In  1678,  the  crown  lawyers  gave  the 
Annulling  opinion  that  the  charter  of  Massachusetts  had 
chus^ttSar-  ^een  rendered  void  by  the  offences  which  had 
ter-  been  committed  by  the  administration  under 

it.  Nothing  was  left  undone  by  the  colony,  through  the 
usual  means  of  procrastination,  petition,  and  remonstrance, 
to  ward  off  the  catastrophe.  The  Court  refused  to  allow 
its  agents,  Joseph  Dudley  and  John  Richards,  to  leave 
it  to  the  King  to  act  his  pleasure,  in  the  faint  hope 
that  his  final  decision  might  be  favorable.  In  October, 
1683,  the  agents  returned.  Soon  after,  the  charter  was 
declared  to  be  null  and  void.  Massachusetts,  robbed  of 
the  Constitution  under  which  it  had  been  planted,  and 


FROM   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT       159 

which  had  subsisted  for  more  than  fifty  years,  was  left 
without  any  guaranty  of  political  rights. 

In  the  contest  for  the  preservation  of  the  charter,  Ran 
dolph  had  behaved  as  an  implacable  enemy,  and  Dudley 
as  a  time-serving  politician.  But  there  was  no  power 
of  resistance.  There  was  no  longer,  as  at  a  former  day,  a 
strong  body  of  Puritans  in  England  whose  co-operation 
could  be  relied  on.  Above  all,  there  was  no  longer  in 
Massachusetts  the  unanimity  which  had  existed  when 
previous  aggressions  were  attempted.  There 

.  -,  -,,  •   •     i«  -it  A     middle 

was  a  middle  party,  a  party  not  indisposed  to  party  in  Mas- 
compromise  and  to  yield.  The  Puritan  the-  sachusetts- 
ocracy,  the  ideal  on  which  the  hearts  of  the  preceding 
generation  had  rested,  had  begun  to  crumble  away, 
through  the  growth  of  population  and  the  alteration  of 
sentiment.  The  inhabitants  no  longer  consisted  almost 
exclusively  of  farmers,  resolute  in  their  principles,  and 
ready  to  shed  their  blood  to  keep  off  foreign  control. 
There  existed,  especially  in  Boston,  a  large  class  who 
were  possessed  of  wealth,  many  of  whom  were  engaged 
in  commerce,  and  whose  tone  of  feeling  was  affected  by 
their  mercantile  and  social  connections  with  the  mother 
country.  Randolph  had  not  labored  in  vain  to  diffuse  in 
this  class  a  spirit  of  compliance. 

The  accession  of  James  II.,  an  avowed  Roman  Catho 
lic,  increased,  if  that  were  possible,  the  feeling  of  despond 
ency  among  the  people  of  Massachusetts.  As  Royal  gov. 
far  as  their  religious  system  was  concerned,  they  ^  w6DE  n  lg- 
had  nothing  to  expect  from  him  but  antipathy.  land> 
One  thing  was  certain  ;  no  favor  would  be  shown  to  the 
cause  of  popular  freedom.  On  May  14,  1686,  Randolph, 
the  untiring  enemy  of  the  Massachusetts  people,  arrived 
with  the  order  from  England  to  set  up  a  provisional  gov 
ernment,  to  consist  of  a  President,  Deputy-President,  and 
sixteen  Councillors,  of  whom  Randolph  was  to  be  one. 


160  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

The  limited  powers  lodged  in  the  new  government  were 
to  be  exercised  without  any  popular  assembly.  Its  au 
thority  was  to  be  extended  over  Massachusetts,  Maine, 
New  Hampshire,  and  the  "  King's  Province,"  or  New 
York.  Joseph  Dudley,  who  was  to  be  Presi 
dent,  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Dudley,  the  un 
bending  Puritan  magistrate  of  a  former  day.  But  the 
son  had  turned  his  back  on  the  example  and  precepts  of 
the  father,  and  was  ready  to  break  down  the  liberties 
which  the  elder  Dudley  had  done  so  much  to  build  up. 
Once  in  office,  however,  the  new  President  was  inclined  to 
conciliate  the  patriots,  and  the  people  who  followed  their 
lead,  so  that  Randolph  wrote  letters  to  England  complain 
ing  of  him.  Care  was  immediately  taken  by  the  Council 
in  England  for  the  introduction  of  Episcopal 
worship  in  worship.  Ratcliffe,  a  clergyman  of  the  Estab 
lished  Church,  was  sent  to  Boston,  and  when 
the  use  of  one  of  the  Puritan  meeting-houses  was  refused, 
the  Episcopal  services  began  to  be  held  in  the  Town  Hall. 
At  the  instigation  of  Randolph,  proceedings  were  begun 
in  England  for  the  abrogation  of  the  charters  of  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut;  and  he  at  once  set  about  to  put 
an  end  to  government  under  these  instruments.  But 
while  the  contests  provoked  by  this  proceeding  were  in 
Andros  made  progress,  Sir  Edmund  Andros  arrived  in  Bos- 
Govcrnor.  fon^  under  an  appointment  from  the  crown,  as 
Governor  of  New  England.  When  the  charter  of  Massa 
chusetts  was  annulled,  the  colony  was  left  absolutely  sub 
ject  to  the  King.  Its  inhabitants  were  not  only  stripped 
of  political  rights  ;  it  was  even  held  that  all  the  land  was 
the  property  of  the  Crown,  and  its  possessors  were  soon 
given  to  understand  that  they  must  bargain  for  the  own 
ership  of  it  by  paying  quit-rents.  Andros  assumed  the 
government  on  December  20,  1686.  Plymouth  and  the 
portion  of  Maine  called  the  County  of  Cornwall,  which 


FROM   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT       161 

had  belonged  to  the  Duke  of  York  before  his  succession 
to  the  crown,  were  included  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  new  Governor.  The  only  limit  on  his  power  of  mak 
ing  laws  was  the  necessity  for  the  concurrence  of  a  Coun 
cil  whose  members  he  had  the  authority  to  displace,  and 
the  requirement  of  the  royal  sanction.  The  Governor 
could  impose  taxes  with  the  Council's  consent.  The  se 
vere  punishments  which  followed  upon  instances  of  re 
fusal  to  submit  to  this  arbitrary  prerogative  showed  that 
resistance  was  useless.  Andros  could  institute  courts  of 
justice,  and  no  appeal  could  be  taken  from  their  decisions 
except  to  the  King.  Dudley  wras  appointed  censor  of 
the  press.  Without  his  leave  nothing  could  be  printed. 
The  Governor  demanded  the  keys  of  the  Old  South 
Church  in  order  that  the  Episcopal  services  Episcopal 
might  be  held  in  it.  The  demand  was  refused,  worship. 
but  he  carried  out  his  determination  to  hold  these  ser 
vices  within  its  walls  on  Sundays  and  holidays,  at  times 
when  the  congregation  to  whom  the  edifice  belonged 
were  not  using  it.  This  high-handed  proceeding  was 
the  object  of  an  unceasing  protest  on  the  part  of  those 
who  were  wronged  by  it,  until  in  April,  1688,  Andros  set 
out  to  erect  a  house  for  Episcopal  worship.  The  new 
building  wras  not  finished  in  time  for  the  Governor  to 
attend  service  in  it.  It  was  opened  for  this  purpose  for 
the  first  time  on  June  8,  1689.  The  antipathy  of  the 
Massachusetts  Puritans  to  the  Episcopal  forms  of  wor 
ship  was  naturally  considered  by  Andros  and  his  sup 
porters  as  a  narrow,  fanatical  prejudice.  But  whatever 
of  sectarian  narrowness  was  involved  in  the  opposition  to 
the 38  forms,  their  introduction  was  part  and  parcel  of 
the  system  of  tyranny  which  the  Stuarts  were  striving  to 
force  upon  the  people.  So  far  as  they  had  this  charac 
ter,  the  resistance  had  a  justifiable  motive. 

The  levying  of  taxes  by  the  fiat  of  the  Governor,  the 
11 


162  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

enforced  renewal  of  land-titles,  and  the  exaction  of  ex 
cessive  fees,  filled  the  minds  of  a  liberty-loving  people 
with  indignation.  The  same  measures  were  carried  out 
in  Maine,  and,  to  some  extent,  in  New  Hampshire.  In 
December,  1686,  Rhode  Island  was  joined,  without  any 
resistance  on  her  part,  to  the  dominion  of  Andros.  At 
the  same  time  he  entered  on  the  task,  which  it  took  nearly 
a  year  to  accomplish,  of  annexing  Connecticut  to  his 
Andros  at  dominion.  In  October,  he  visited  Hartford. 
Hartford.  There  is  a  tradition  that  while  the  discussion 
was  proceeding  with  the  magistrates,  in  the  presence  of 
a  numerous  company,  the  lights  were  suddenly  extin 
guished,  and  the  charter  taken  from  the  table  and  hid 
den  in  the  hollow  trunk  of  an  oak  tree,  which  was  known 
in  later  times  as  the  "Charter  Oak."  Some  occurrence 
of  interest  at  the  time,  perhaps  the  hiding  of  a  duplicate 
copy  of  the  charter,  is  the  ground  of  this  legend.  The 
restriction  of  the  number  of  meetings  which  the  towns 
were  allowed  to  hold,  and  the  reduction  of  the  powers 
of  the  towns,  was  one  of  the  obnoxious  acts  that  en 
sued  upon  the  Governor's  return  to  Massachusetts.  In 
June,  1687,  New  York  and  the  Jerseys  were  added  to 
the  territories  subject  to  him.  While  Boston  was  to  be 
The  domin-  the  capital  of  the  extensive  "Dominion,"  which 
ion  of  Andros.  wag  ^o  jiave  f-ne  name  New  England,  a  Deputy- 
Governor  was  to  reside  in  New  York.  A  military  expe 
dition,  which  Andros  led  into  Maine  against  the  Indians, 
brought  great  sufferings  upon  those  who  took  part  in  it. 
This  increased  the  unpopularity  of  the  Governor,  who 
was  unjustly  suspected  of  sinister  designs  in  connection 
with  the  enterprise — with  nothing  less  than  a  secret  pur 
pose  to  destroy  the  Massachusetts  troops.  He  had  pre 
viously  captured  Castine  from  the  French. 

Public  affairs  in  England  now  took  a  turn  favorable  to 
the  interests  of  the  colony.     James  II.  was  bent  on  two 


FROM    TIIK    PL  A  XT  I XG    OF    COXXKCTICUT       1G3 

objects.  He  was  determined  to  rule  in  a  despotic  way, 
and  he  was  earnest  to  promote  the  interests  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  He  began  his  reign  with  a  ATtered  1JOl. 
persecution  of  the  Puritans.  The  Covenanters  gy  of  James 
in  Scotland,  and  the  Nonconformists  in  England, 
were  pursued  with  unrelenting  cruelty.  The  blood-thirsty 
Jeffreys  was  a  judge  after  the  King's  own  heart.  Divines 
like  Richard  Baxter,  respected  by  all  good  men,  were 
loaded  with  insult  and  cast  into  prison.  The  purpose  of 
James  was  to  divide  power  and  offices  between  the  Church 
of  England  and  the  Church  of  Rome,  of  which  he  was  a 
member.  Finding  that  he  could  not  build  up  the  Roman 
Catholic  cause  by  the  aid  of  Episcopalians,  he  turned  to 
the  Dissenters,  and,  by  an  unconstitutional  exercise  of 
power,  suspended  the  execution  of  penal  laws  against 
them.  He  professed  to  be  a  believer  in  liberty  of  con- 
S3i2n2e.  This  new  policy  culminated  in  the  Declaration 
of  Indulgence.  This  naturally  gave  pleasure  to  such  Non 
conformists  as  looked  only  at  the  immediate  gain,  with 
out  penetrating  the  King's  design,  or  considering  that  an 
act  which  brought  to  them  relief  enslaved  the  nation, 
converting,  as  it  did,  the  monarch  into  a  czar.  The  dis- 
affoction  in  Massachusetts  prompted  the  sending  of  a 
messenger  to  implore  redress  at  the  English  Court.  In 
crease  Mather,  the  most  eminent  minister  in 

-— —  _  Increase 

the  colony,  and  quite  competent  for  such  an  Mather  in 
errand,  was  selected  for  the  purpose.  Ran 
dolph  tried  to  detain  him  by  a  vexatious  prosecution  for 
libel,  but  Mather  contrived  to  elude  the  attempt.  He 
w_i3  graciously  received  by  the  King,  whom  he  propiti 
ated  by  presenting  from  certain  ministers  and  churches 
aldresses  of  thanks  for  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence, 
the  true  intent  of  which  their  authors  had  failed  to  com 
prehend.  But  Mather  made  no  real  progress  with  his 
suit.  Meantime  the  English  people  were  fast  getting 


164  TUP]   COLONIAL   ERA 

ready  to  drive  James  from  the  throne.  Mather  arrived 
in  England  on  May  25,  1688.  The  first  information  of 
the  landing  of  William  of  Orange  at  Torbay  reached 
The  Revoiu-  Boston  on  April  4,  1689.  There  was  no  longer 
tion.  anv  barrier  to  stay  the  current  of  popular  in 
dignation.  On  April  18th,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
troops  were  moving  in  different  parts  of  the  town.  They 
escorted  a  number  of  the  old  magistrates  to  the  Council 
Chamber.  Randolph  and  many  other  coadjutors  of  An- 
Andros  in  clros  were  arrested  and  put  in  jail.  Troops 
prison,  poured  in  from  the  country  places  until  they 
reached  the  number  of  fifteen  hundred  or  two  thousand. 
The  Governor  himself  was  taken,  and  was  ultimately 
lodged  in  the  Fort.  There  was  considerable  difficulty  in 
shielding  Dudley  from  popular  violence.  A  provisional 
Provisional  government  was  created.  The  Governor  and 
government,  magistrates  who  had  been  chosen  at  the  last 
popular  election  before  the  annulling  of  the  charter  were 
associated  with  a  newly  chosen  body  of  deputies,  and 
with  them  constituted  the  General  Court.  On  May  29th, 
William  and  Mary  were  proclaimed  in  Boston  with  all 
possible  expressions  of  public  joy.  In  Plymouth,  the  old 
government  was  likewise  reinstated.  The  same  thing 
was  done  in  Connecticut.  In  Rhode  Island,  the  old  of 
ficers  were  restored,  but  the  Governor  declined  to  serve. 
When  James  fell  from  power,  the  machinery  of  tyrannical 
government  which  he  had  erected  in  New  England  fell 
with  him.  Andros,  its  agent,  was  hated  in  New  England, 
but  he  had  simply  carried  out  the  will  of  the  government 
of  which  he  was  the  agent.  As  regards  his  personal  char 
acter,  apart  from  his  sympathy  and  official  connection  with 
an  odious  system,  there  is  no  ground  for  serious  reproach. 

We  have  now  to  glance  at  some  of  the  peculiar  features 
of  society  in  New  England. 


FROM   THE   PLANTING    OF   CONNECTICUT       165 

John  Adams  records  in  his  diary  that  he  gave  to  a  Vir 
ginian  "  a  receipt  for  making  a  New  England  in  Virginia." 
The  secret  lay  in  the  adoption  of  town-meet- 

.    .          T  ,        ,  -.         .    .  Society    in 

ings,  training-days,  town-schools,  and  minis-   New  Eng- 
ters.     "The  meeting-house   and   the  school-   1; 
house,"  he  said,   are   "  the  scenes  where  New  England 
men  are  formed."     The  four  chief  things  were,  "  towns, 
militia,  schools,  and  churches." 

It  should  be  remembered  at  the  outset  that  the  inhab 
itants  of  the  New  England  colonies  were  homogeneous 
in  race  and  in'  spirit.  They  were  of  pure  Eng 
lish  stock.  Those  of  a  different  descent  were  homoge'ne- 
an  insignificant  minority.  The  twenty  thou-  ous< 
sand  settlers  who  came  over  prior  to  1641,  when  immi 
gration  practically  ceased,  were  mostly  from  the  East 
Anglian  counties.  A  portion  of  them  were  from  Devon 
and  Cornwall,  and  some  came  from  London.  The  speech 
of  the  people  was  good  English  of  that  day.  What  have 
been  considered  peculiarities  acquired  in  their  new  home 
were  mostly  brought  over  from  the  localities  whence  the 
colonists  came,  where,  in  some  instances,  however,  they  long 
ago  ceased  to  be  in  vogue.  The  habit  of  prefixing  the  as 
pirate  h  where  it  does  not  belong,  and  of  dropping  it  where 
it  does  belong,  could  not  have  prevailed  in  the  old  country 
as  it  has  since  spread  there,  since  it  never  existed  in  New 
England.  The  tendency  to  a  "nasal  utterance  " must  have 
sprung  up  on  this  side  of  the  ocean,  owing  to  some  quality 
of  the  atmosphere,  or,  perhaps,  in  a  certain  degree,  from 
a  Puritan  habit  of  prolonging  the  vowel  sounds. 

Legislation  and  the  administration  of  justice  took  their 
form  from  the  English  system,  modified  by  the  influence 
of  the  Mosaic  civil  code  and  by  a  natural  sense  Government 
of   equity.     Trial   by    jury   was    early   estab-     and  laws- 
lished  in   Massachusetts  and   in  the  other  colonies,  ex 
cept   New  Haven.     In   Massachusetts  there  were  town 


166  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

courts  and  county  courts,  and  above  them  the  Court  of 
Assistants,  with  the  General  Court,  the  supreme  tribunal 
to  which  appeals  in  important  causes  might  be  carried. 
Sixteen  years  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  the  first 
code  of  laws  was  framed  at  Plymouth.  Its  provisions 
followed  no  model,  but  were  determined  by  the  peculiar 
in  Massachu-  circumstances  and  needs  of  the  colony.  In 
sects.  Massachusetts  the  adjudication  of  causes  was 
left  for  a  long  time  to  the  discretion  of  the  magistrates, 
as  there  was  no  recognition  of  the  binding  force  of  the 
common  law  of  England.  The  people  became  more  and 
more  earnest  in  calling  for  a  written  code,  especially 
after  deputies  were  elected  by  the  towns.  But  delays 
were  interposed  and  considerable  time  elapsed  before  the 
popular  demand  was  satisfied.  Experiments  were  made 
in  the  composition  of  a  body  of  laws,  but  the  schemes 
proposed  were  not  acceptable.  Cotton  offered  to  the 
Court  "a  copy  of  Moses  his  Judicials,"  which  he  had  com 
piled,  but  no  action  was  taken  upon  it.  At  length,  in 
1641,  there  were  adopted  one  hundred  fundamental  laws, 
which  were  called  "  The  Body  of  Liberties."  They  were 
drawn  up  by  Nathaniel  Ward,  the  minister  of  Ipswich,  who 
had  been  bred  to  the  law  in  his  youth,  before  he  became 
a  minister,  and  was  quite  competent  for  his  task.  Under 
this  code  there  were  twelve  capital  crimes,  to  which  a 
thirteenth,  rape,  was  added  the  next  year.  At  that  time, 
in  England,  tlie  number  of  capital  offences  was  thirty. 
The  spirit  of  the  Massachusetts  code  is  disclosed  in  the 
opening  paragraph  :  "  No  man's  life  shall  be  taken  away  ; 
no  man's  honor  or  good  name  shall  be  stained ;  no  man's 
person  shall  be  arrested,  restrained,  banished,  dismem 
bered,  nor  anyways  punished ;  no  man  shall  be  deprived 
of  his  wife  or  children  ;  no  man's  goods  or  estate  shall  be 
taken  away,  nor  any  way  endangered,  under  color  of  law, 
or  countenance  of  authority ;  unless  it  be  by  virtue  or 


FUOM   THE   PLANTING   OF   CONNECTICUT       1G7 

equity  of  some  express  law  of  the  country  warranting  the 
same,  established  by  the  General  Court  and  sufficiently 
published,  or,  in  case  of  defect  of  the  law  in  any  particu 
lar  case,  by  the  Word  of  God  ; — and  in  capital  cases,  or 
in  cases  concerning  dismembering  or  banishment,  ac 
cording  to  that  word  to  be  judged  by  the  General  Court." 
In  1642,  Connecticut  adopted  the  provisions  In  Counecti_ 
of  the  Massachusetts  code  as  regards  capital  cut- 
offences.  Before  that  time  it  had  no  written  collection 
of  laws.  As  we  have  seen,  a  selection  of  the  Mosaic 
civil  laws  was  at  first  the  only  statute-book  of  New 
Haven  colony  ;  and  this  continued  to  be  the  fact  until 
1656. 

The  organization  of  the  towns  was  closely  connected 
with  the  central  place  of  the  church  in  the  social  system, 
and  with  the  attractions  of  the ' '  meeting-house."  TOWH  organi- 
To  the  meeting-house  all  the  people,  except  zatlon- 
such  as  were  kept  at  home  by  some  necessity,  were  com 
pelled  by  law  to  repair  twice  on  Sunday.  The  abodes  of 
the  inhabitants  were  commonly  in  the  immediate  neigh 
borhood.  In  addition  to  the  ownership  of  farms  in  sev- 
eralty,  there  were  pastures  and  woodland  which  were  for 
the  benefit  of  all  in  common.  The  town  was  a  politi 
cal  society,  having  its  own  defined  prerogatives,  officers 
peculiar  to  itself,  chosen  by  popular  vote,  and  its  own 
deliberative  assemblies  where  public  measures  of  local 
interest  were  discussed  and  determined.  In  these  village 
parliaments  the  democratic  idea  in  its  original  form  was 
realized. 

There  was  no  standing  army,  but  the  people  were  all 
soldiers.     Only  those  were  exempted  from  military  drill 
whose  occupations  naturally  excluded  them,  as 
was  the  case  with  ministers  and  with  fishermen, 
who  were  obliged   most  of  the  time  to  be  absent  from 
their  homes.     Military  offices  were  posts  of  honor.     The 


1G8  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

regular  training   days  were  occasions  of  importance  in 
which  the  whole  community  took  an  interest. 

In  a  community  where  religion  was  an  absorbing  con 
cern,  the  clergy  could  not  fail  to  hold  a  prominent  place. 
On  account  of  their  sacred  office,  but,  also,  by 

Tli 6  c'crffv 

reason  of  their  ability  and  learning,  in  the 
absence  of  any  other  liberally  educated  class  to  divide 
power  with  them,  the  ministers  were,  from  the  beginning, 
the  recognized  leaders  of  society.  Since  government,  in 
some  of  the  colonies  entirely,  in  all  of  them  mainly,  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  distinctively  religious  class,  the  minis 
ters  were  consulted  in  civil  affairs,  and  great  weight  was 
attached  to  their  opinions,  especially  in  all  cases  where 
moral  questions  were  distinctly  involved.  But  they  were, 
also,  honored  counsellors  in  their  parishes  in  matters  of 
private  concern.  Their  medical  knowledge  was  not  in 
considerable,  and  when  trained  physicians  were  very  few, 
it  was  employed  in  the  service  of  the  people.  The  pres 
ence  of  lawyers  in  the  colonies  was  discouraged,  from  the 
conviction  that  controversies  should  be  settled  without 
resort  to  legal  technicalities,  and  because  of  the  purpose 
to  keep  clear  of  obnoxious  parts  of  the  English  system  of 
jurisprudence.  When  the  legal  profession  came  to  be 
allowed,  it  was  with  restrictions  as  to  the  number  of  ad 
vocates,  and  in  other  particulars.  Ministers  were  actively 
concerned  in  the  framing  of  laws  and  in  the  adjustment 
of  disputes.  It  naturally  devolved  on  them  to  exercise 
a  large  measure  of  control  in  organizing  and  managing 
schools  of  every  grade.  In  short,  especially  in  Massachu 
setts  and  the  western  colonies,  the  clergy  were  the  prin 
cipal  guides  of  the  community.  Yet  the  deference  paid 
to  them  was  not  of  a  slavish  kind.  Laymen  understood 
their  rights,  and  their  constant  participation  in  the  pro 
ceedings  of  towns  and  churches  accustomed  them  to  the 
exercise  of  an  independent  judgment. 


FROM    THE   PLANTING   OF    CONNECTICUT      1G9 

The  intellectual  activity  of  the  New  England  people 
was  a  prime  characteristic.  Most  of  them  were  English 
yeomen.  With  them  came  over  substantial  intellectual 
country  gentlemen,  and  some  merchants  of  actlvlty- 
large  means.  But  it  was  true  of  all  that  their  minds  had 
been  deeply  stirred  by  the  theological  controversies  of  the 
age.  If  it  was  true  of  the  bulk  of  them  that  they  read  few 
books,  the  Bible,  in  the  whole  range  of  its  literature,  was 
an  ever-present,  stimulating  companion.  Morning  and 
night,  and  on  the  Lord's  day,  they  hung  over  its  pages 
with  eager  and  absorbed,  as  well  as  reverent,  attention. 
Whatever  has  to  do  with  man  as  a  spiritual  being  had  in 
their  eyes  a  transcendent  importance.  Hence  a  marked 
distinction  of  the  principal  New  England  com 
munities  is  the  interest  that  was  felt  from  the 
beginning  in  the  education  of  the  people,  and  the  heavy 
burdens  that  were  cheerfully  assumed  to  effect  the  object. 
Schools  were  soon  set  up  in  all  considerable  towns,  save  in 
Plymouth  colony,  where  the  poverty  of  the  people  explains 
the  exception.  In  1647,  the  law  of  Massachusetts  required 
that  a  school  should  be  supported  in  every  town  having 
fifty  householders,  and  that  a  grammar-school  should  be 
established,  where  boys  could  be  fitted  for  college,  in 
every  place  where  the  householders  numbered  a  hundred. 
The  pecuniary  sacrifices  cheerfully  undertaken  for  the 
foundation  of  Harvard  College  and  for  its  continued  sup 
port,  indicate  the  importance  that  was  attached  to  learn 
ing  and  culture,  and  the  natural  fear  on  the  part  of  the 
educated  class  that  in  these  "  ends  of  the  earth  "  there 
would  come  a  degeneracy  in  these  particulars.  It  was 
only  six  years  after  the  arrival  of  Winthrop,  October  23, 
when  the  General  Court  appropriated  for  the  J63(L 
foundation  of  the  college  a  sum  "  equivalent  to  the  colony 
tax  for  a  year."  Seven  magistrates  and  six  ministers  were 
appointed  a  committee  "  to  take  order  for  it."  Two  years 


170  THE   COLONIAL    Ell  A 

later,  John  Harvard  died  at  Charlestown,  bequeathing  bis 
library  and  half  of  his  estate  (or  about  £700),  to  carry  out 
the  plan.  In  1657,  the  New  Haven  colony  required  every 
plantation  not  having  a  school  to  provide  one.  There  the 
plan  of  a  college  was  early  favored.  It  was  prevented 
from  being  realized  until  1700,  owing  to  the  sparseness 
of  population  and  to  the  conviction  that  the  want  was 
met  by  the  institution  previously  planted  at  Cambridge. 
Besides  the  instruction  imparted  in  school  and  college, 
we  must  not  omit  to  notice  the  stimulus  and  training  of 
an  intellectual,  as  well  as  spiritual  nature,  which  were  re 
ceived  by  the  whole  people  from  the  pulpit.  In  common 
with  Puritan  preachers  generally,  the  New  England  min 
isters  were  teachers  of  doctrine.  They  addressed  the  un 
derstanding  of  their  hearers.  They  discoursed  from  Sun 
day  to  Sunday  on  the  most  profound  themes  of  theology, 
as  well  as  on  the  plain  practical  precepts  of  Christianit}T. 
Their  sermons  were  the  subject  of  conversation  in  their 
parishes,  not  only  on  the  Lord's  day,  but,  more  or  less, 
through  the  week,  in  the  field  and  at  the  fireside.  A 
number  of  the  systems  of  theology  which  have  been  com 
posed  by  New  England  divines  in  the  colonial  period,  as 
well  as  later — as  late  as  the  early  decades  of  the  nine 
teenth  century — consisted  of  sermons  that  were  delivered 
before  country  congregations,  composed  mainly  of  farm 
ers.  The  habits  of  attention,  of  discrimination,  and  of 
reasoning  which  were  thus  nurtured,  must  be  taken  into 
account  if  one  would  comprehend  the  mental  life  of  New 
England. 

The  tendencies  of  society  in  New  England  were  in  the 
direction  of  social  equality.  There  were  very  few  large 
Soc'ai  ciis-  landed  estates.  There  was  no  law  of  entail. 

Actions.  There  was  freedom  in  the  disposition  of  prop 
erty  by  will,  except  that  in  the  allotment  of  intestate 
estates  the  older  son  received  a  double  portion.  Yet 


FROM   THE   PLANTING    OF   CONNECTICUT       171 

it  would  be  a  mistake  to  conclude  that  there  were  no 
distinctions  of  rank,  openly  or  tacitly  recognized.  The 
high  position  accorded  to  the  clergy  has  already  been 
adverted  to.  The  magistrates,  who  were  generally  se 
lected  from  the  families  most  respected,  and  on  account 
of  their  own  intellectual  and  moral  worth,  were  held  in 
special  honor.  The  idea  entertained  of  the  divine  ori 
gin  of  government  and  of  the  sanctions  of  law  secured  to 
the  rulers,  although  chosen  by  the  people,  popular  rev 
erence.  The  social  superiority  of  certain  families  was 
publicly  recognized.  It  was  the  custom  to  allot  seats  to 
the  congregation  in  the  houses  of  worship  according  to 
the  dignity  of  its  several  members,  which  was  careful 
ly  and  formally  determined.  The  ordinary  designation 
of  man  and  woman  was  "  goodman  "  and  "  goodwife," 
"  Mr."  and  "  Mrs."  (Mistress)  being  titles  confined  to  the 
men  and  the  dames  and  daughters  of  the  superior  class. 
In  the  catalogue  of  the  colleges,  far  into  the  eighteenth 
century,  the  same  respect  to  rank  was  paid.  Those  who 
were  tirst  in  the  alphabetical  order  were  seldom  first  in 
the  list  of  students.  Negro  slavery  existed  in  the  New 
England  colonies,  but  the  slaves  were  domestic  servants, 
laboring  m  the  house  and  on  the  farm.  Their  propor 
tionate  number  was  never  large,  and  they  were  kindly 
treated.  Yet  slavery  was  not  condemned.  Samuel  Sew- 
all  published  in  1700  the  first  attack  upon  the  system  as 
immoral. 

The  strong  hold  which  the  Puritan  faith,  in  its  radical 
type,  had  upon  the  convictions  of  the  community,  is  the 
key  to  the  explanation  of   the  most  striking 
peculiarities  of  New  England  society.     It  was  Ne^  1?E°n  g° 
about   the    "  meeting-house "    that    the    town   1: 
clustered.     There — except  in  Rhode  Island — all  the  peo 
ple,  who  were  not  kept  away  by  some  necessity,  were 
compelled  to  be  present  at  two  extended  services  on  the 


172  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

Lord's  Day.  This  requirement,  it  should  be  observed, 
was  not  peculiar  to  New  England.  There  was  the  same 
law  in  Virginia  and  other  colonies,  as  well  as  in  England. 
The  Puritans — and  of  the  New  England  Puritans  it  may 
be  said  with  most  emphasis — set  up  the  Bible  as  the  one 
guide  of  life,  to  the  exclusion  of  ecclesiastical  authority 
and  precedents,  no  matter  how  long  established  and 
how  venerated  they  might  be.  They  required  a  warrant 
from  Holy  Writ  for  all  ecclesiastical  usages.  Consistent 
ly  with  their  theory  on  this  subject,  they  discarded  the 
observance  of  Easter  and  of  Christmas,  and  of  all  other 
feasts  and  fasts  which  in  their  judgment  had  no  revealed 
sanction.  They  substituted  for  them  a  day  of  fasting  in 
the  spring  and  a  day  of  thanksgiving  in  the  autumn, 
when  the  harvest  had  been  gathered  in.  These  observ 
ances  corresponded  to  Jewish  sacred  days  ;  but  even  fast 
and  thanksgiving  must  be  appointed  by  the  magistrates, 
and  appointed  annually.  Sunday,  or  "the  Sabbath,"  as 
it  was  styled,  was  considered  an  observance  enjoined  by 
the  decalogue  upon  the  human  race  for  all  time,  and  the 
mode  of  keeping  it  was  regulated  by  the  Old  Testament 
sabbatical  statutes.  It  was  a  day  of  rigid  abstention 
from  labor  and  from  recreation  of  all  sorts.  There  was 
some  doubt  whether  it  should  begin  on  the  morning  of 
Sunday,  or,  following  the  Jewish  manner  of  reckoning, 
on  Saturday,  at  sundown.  In  Massachusetts,  the  former 
custom  came  to  prevail  ;  in  Connecticut,  the  latter. 
Forms  of  prayer  were  discarded  in  public  worship,  being 
considered  to  be  destitute  of  a  Biblical  warrant.  The 
Scriptures  were  not  even  read  in  public  worship,  unless 
the  reading  was  accompanied  by  exposition.  The  sermon 
was  of  an  hour  in  length,  and  in  the  earlier  days  was  de 
livered  without  the  aid  of  notes.  Instrumental  music  in 
churches  was  not  allowed.  No  singing  was  allowed  in 
worship,  except  from  a  metrical  version  of  the  Psalms. 


FROM   THE   PLANTING    OF   CONNECTICUT       173 

The  presence  and  aid  of  a  priest  had  for  ages  been 
deemed  essential  in  the  marriage  ceremony  and  in  the 
burial  of  the  dead.  As  a  part  of  the  radical  protest 
against  the  right  of  a  priesthood  to  exist  in  the  church, 
marriages  were  for  a  long  time  celebrated  exclusively  by 
the  civil  magistrates.  The  Pilgrims  from  the  beginning 
followed  in  this  particular  what  they  had  observed  to  be 
the  Protestant  custom  in  the  Low  Countries.  Burial- 
places  were  commonly  not  adjacent  to  the  meeting 
houses,  and  the  dead  were  buried  in  silence,  without 
any  religious  services.  The  religious  ideas  and  institu 
tions  of  the  Puritans,  carried  into  the  family,  as  into 
every  department  of  life,  a  tone  of  conscientious  strict 
ness.  There  was  deep  affection,  but  there  was  often  re 
serve  in  the  expression  of  it.  The  natural  gayety  of  the 
young  was  kept  within  bounds  by  the  punctual  enforce 
ment  of  restraints.  The  prevalent  moral  code,  pure  in 
its  spirit  and  lofty  in  its  aims,  took  on  a  shade  of  austerity. 
Sumptuary  laws  were  a  branch  of  the  paternal  theory 
of  government  which  prevailed  in  New  England,  as  else 
where,  in  the  seventeenth  century.  Especially  Sumptnary 
was  extravagance  in  dress,  and  an  undue  dis-  laws- 
play  of  fineiy,  on  the  part  of  people  of  inferior  social 
rank,  the  object  of  legal  prohibition.  A  law  of  Massa 
chusetts  in  1634  forbade  "immoderate  great  sleeves" 
and  "  slashed  apparel/'  and  the  use  of  gold  or  silver  belts 
or  hat-bands  by  any  who  were  not  already  possessed  of 
them.  In  1651,  the  wearing  of  gold  or  silver  lace,  or 
great  boots,  was  made  unlawful  for  any  except  magis 
trates  and  their  families,  or  persons  having  two  hundred 
pounds  a  year.  In  Connecticut,  in  1676,  it  was  ordained 
that  persons  wearing  gold  or  silver  buttons,  any  but  a 
specified  kind  of  lace,  or  silk  scarfs,  should  be  taxed  for 
one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  In  1636,  in  Massachu 
setts,  a  law  was  enacted  that  buyers  of  wines,  liquors,  or 


174  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

tobacco,  should  pay  one-sixth  of  their  value  into  the 
public  treasury.  In  one  year  the  law  was  enforced 
which  imposed  the  same  tax  on  purchasers  of  fruit, 
spice,  or  sugar.  The  inroads  of  fashion,  as  the  century 
drew  to  its  close,  were  looked  upon  with  stern  disfavor. 
The  first  introduction  of  wigs  is  recorded  by  Judge  Sewall 
in  his  diary  with  feelings  of  sorrow  and  anger.  If  laws 
were  thought  necessary  to  keep  down  show  and  expense 
in  matters  of  dress  and  domestic  economy,  much  more 
was  their  aid  employed  to  prevent  and  to  punish  dicing, 
card-playing,  and  also  the  drinking  of  healths,  which 
was  regarded  as  an  offensive  custom.  In  the  early  days, 
dancing  was  prohibited  as  frivolous  and  as  leading  to  im 
purity.  Later,  the  strictness  of  the  law  on  this  subject 
was  relaxed  in  Massachusetts. 

It  was  the  glory  of  the  Puritans  that  they  insisted  on 
the  law  of  righteousness,  and  required  that  conduct 
should  be  conformed  to  it.  The  health  of  the  soul  and 
the  approbation  of  God  were  the  objects  of  supreme 
regard.  But  into  the  Puritanism  of  New  England  the 
leaven  of  the  Kenaissance  did  not  enter.  It  is  true  that 
education  was  prized.  The  study  of  the  Latin  and  Greek 
classics  was  fostered  by  the  clergy.  But  that  element 
which  it  is  now  the  fashion  to  call  Hellenism — that  play 
of  the  mind  which  appears  in  the  higher  forms  of  imagin 
ative  literature  and  in  art — was  absent.  An  intense  moral 
and  religious  earnestness  had  the  effect  for  the  time  to 
exclude  this  form  of  intellectual  life. 

Whatever  tinge  of  asceticism  belonged  to  the  Puritan 
ideal  of  family  and  social  life,  it  did  not  reach  to  the  mat 
ter  of  provisions  for  the  table  or  the  exercise  of  hospital- 
Thanks  Piv-  ity-  Xt  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  first 
ing  festival.  Thanksgiving  festival  was  at  Plymouth  in  the 
autumn  of  1621,  when  Massasoit  and  ninety  of  his  peo 
ple  were  feasted  for  three  days  on  wild-fowl  and  veni- 


FROM   THE   PLANTING    OF    CONNECTICUT       175 

son.  Thanksgiving-day  was  always  the  occasion  of  joyful 
family  gatherings  by  the  blazing  hearthstone  and  at  the 
dinner  of  turkey  and  plum-pudding.  There  were  other 
times  of  relaxation  and  pleasure,  which  were  of  regular 
recurrence.  Election-day,  when  the  magistrates  assumed 
their  office,  was  one  of  these  occasions.  Training-days, 
of  which  there  were  several  annually,  when  the  military 
companies  went  through  their  drills  in  full  panoply,  were 
holidays,  when  the  young  regaled  themselves  with  the 
spectacle  and  engaged  in  sports  on  the  green.  Wrest 
ling-matches  and  shooting-matches  were  favorite  games. 
There  were  neighborhood  gatherings  which  combined 
work  with  pleasure,  such  as  quilting-parties  of  women 
in-doors,  husking-parties,  and  assemblies  of  men  for  the 
"raising"  of  the  timber  frames  of  houses.  At  such 
gatherings  refreshments  would  not  fail  to  be  provided. 
The  old  English  relish  for  good  cheer  and  for  manly  out- 
of-door  games  was  not  extinguished  by  Puritan  sobriety 
and  the  necessity  of  constant  toil. 

The  inhabitants  of  New  England  were  industrious. 
Farming  was  the  principal  occupation.  But  while  in 
places,  as,  for  example,  in  the  valley  of  the  Employ- 
Connecticut,  the  soil  was  fertile,  it  was  more  mei1ts- 
commonly  sterile,  and  subsistence  was  wrung  from  it  by 
liar:!  labor.  Knitting  and  spinning  were  occupations  by 
women  in  the  household.  Within  ten  years  from  the 
landing  of  Winthrop,  the  weaving  of  cotton  and  woollen 
fabrics  was  begun  by  a  few  emigrants  from  Yorkshire. 
Labor  was  rapidly  diversified.  The  important  mechanical 
trades  were  soon  plied  in  the  larger  villages.  The  chief 
source  of  profit  was  from  the  fisheries.  Ship-building, 
which  began  at  once,  was  zealously  prosecuted.  Com 
merce  sprang  up  and  nourished.  The  export  of  fish  to 
the  West  Indies  and  to  Europe  brought  back  supplies  of 
foreign  products  which  added  greatly  to  the  comforts 


176  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

of  living.  As  time  went  on,  the  style  of  building  was 
constantly  improving.  The  square  meeting-houses,  with 
their  pyramidal  roofs,  beneath  which  the  earlier  settlers 
met,  bringing  with  them  their  muskets  to  repel  attacks  of 
the  Indians,  gave  place  to  rectangular  buildings,  some 
times  of  large  dimensions.  The  dwelling-houses,  with 
long  roofs  descending  in  the  rear,  which  took  the  place  of 
the  first  low  log-houses,  were  superseded,  in  the  case  of 
families  of  larger  means,  by  houses  quite  commodious 
and  even  stately. 

• 


CHAPTER  IX. 

NEW  YORK  TO  1688 

Hudson's  Discovery — Block's  Exploring  Voyage — The  "  New  Neth 
erland  "  Company — West  India  Company  Chartered — The  Dutch 
at  Manhattan  and  Albany — Purchase  of  Manhattan  Island— The 
Patroons — Van  Twiller  Succeeds  Minuit — The  Swedish  Settle 
ment — Trouble  with  the  Indians— Peter  Stuyvesant — Treaty 
with  Connecticut — Attack  on  the  Swedes — Delaware  Purchased 
— Religious  Contests — Demand  for  Popular  Franchise — Rela 
tions  to  Connecticut — Holland  and  England — Conquest  of  New 
Netherland  by  the  English — The  New  Government — War  be 
tween  England  and  France — Lovelace  —New  Netherland  Re 
taken  by  the  Dutch — Restored  to  the  English — New  York 
Described  by  Andros — Dongan — Charter  of  Liberties— New 
York  a  Roval  Province— The  Revolt  of  Leisler. 

NEW  YORK,  or  New  Netherland,  as  it  was  first  called, 
after  a  period  passed  out  of  the  possession  of  the  Dutch, 
its  original  settlers.  Had  it  been  retained  in  their  hands 
it  would  have  severed  the  chain  of  English  colonies  along 
the  Atlantic  coast,  and  have  established  a  barrier  in  the 
way  of  their  eventual  union  in  one  political  system.  At 
the  opening  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  Confederated 
States  of  the  Netherlands  were  emerging  victoriously  from 
their  long  and  heroic  contest  for  liberty  against  the  power 
of  Spain.  In  1609,  there  was  concluded  a  truce  for  twelve 
years,  which  contained  an  acknowledgment  by  Philip  II. 
of  their  sovereignty  and  independence.  Just  Hudwmv  dis- 
at  the  time  when  this  memorable  peace  was  covery. 
signed,  Henry  Hudson  sailed  from  Amsterdam  in  the  Half- 
Moon,  to  search  for  a  passage  to  India  by  the  northeast 
12 


178  THE   COLONIAL    KUA 

or  the  northwest.  Hudson  was  an  English  mariner  who 
had  made  two  voyages  from  England  already  in  quest  of 
India  by  way  of  the  northern  seas.  Not  disheartened  by 
repeated  failures,  he  now  made  a  third  attempt  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Amsterdam  directors  of  the  Dutch  East 
India  Company,  a  corporation  in  which  had  been  vested 
the  most  ample  powers  of  colonization  and  government 
in  the  East,  and  which  brought  the  largest  pecuniary  re 
wards  to  the  enterprise  of  its  projectors.  After  doubling 
the  Cape  of  Norway,  Hudson,  finding  in  the  ice  and  in 
the  discontent  of  his  men  insuperable  obstacles  to  a  fur 
ther  progress,  turned  his  prow  toward  America.  Having 
reached  the  coast  of  Newfoundland,  he  sailed  southward 
until  he  entered  Delaware  Bay.  Then,  reversing  his 
course,  he  came  in  sight  of  the  hills  of  Navesink,  went  in 
past  Sandy  Hook,  and  anchored  in  the  lower  bay  of  the 
future  site  of  New  York.  He  explored  the  neighborhood, 
and  had  converse  with  the  Indians,  which  was  generally  of 
a  friendly  character.  Still  in  quest  of  a  route  by  water  to 
India,  in  the  month  of  September  he  sailed  up  the  great 
river  which  was  one  day  to  bear  his  name,  as  far  as  the 
site  of  Albany.  His  appreciation  of  the  charms  of  the 
scenery  was  enhanced  by  the  delight  natural  to  the  dis 
coverer  whose  eyes  first  beheld  the  noble  stream  and  its 
adjacent  shores,  with  their  steep  heights  and  verdant 
forests.  He  found  the  natives  generally  hospitable,  al 
though  once  he  had  to  repel  an  attack.  The  reports  of 
Hudson  on  his  return — in  particular,  the  prospect  that 
was  opened  for  a  very  lucrative  trade  with  the  Indians 
in  furs — caused  other  vessels  to  be  sent  out  by  Amster 
dam  merchants  on  the  same  path.  In  1614,  Hendrick 
Christhensen  built  a  trading-house — "Fort  Nassau" — 
on  the  west  of  the  Hudson,  a  little  below  the  site  of  Al 
bany.  It  was  designed  partly  as  a  warehouse  and  partly 
for  defence.  A  few  men  were  also  left  on  the  south  end 


NEW   YORK   TO   1C88  179 

of  Manhattan  Island  as  the  nucleus  of  a  settlement.  In 
the  same  year  another  sea-captain,  Adrian  Block,  having 
lost  his  ship,  embarked  in  a  small  vessel  which  Block's  ex- 
he  had  built  on  that  island,  and  coasted  along  pioring  voy- 

°    age. 

tho  shores  of  New  England.  He  went  up  the 
Connecticut  River,  entered  Narragansett  Bay,  and  sailed 
past  Cape  Cod  as  far  as  Boston  Harbor.  The  Dutch  cap 
tain  gave  his  name  to  a  large  island  which  he  visited. 
Under  his  supervision  a  "  Figurative  Map  "  was  drawn, 
and  was  submitted  by  the  deputies  of  a  company  of  mer 
chants  to  the  States-General  at  the  Hague.  A  charter 
was  granted  to  the  "New  Netherland"  Com-  The  "New 
pany  to  trade  in  that  region  for  three  years,  Netherland " 
from  1615.  After  that  date  it  was  renewed, 
year  by  year,  until  1621.  "  New  Netherland,"  as  deline 
ated  on  Block's  map,  embraced  the  whole  of  New  Eng 
land.  In  the  same  summer  in  which  he  made  his  explor 
ing  trip,  John  Smith  was  likewise  examining  the  eastern 
coast  of  the  same  territory,  to  the  northern  part  of  which 
he  attached  the  name  of  New  England.  In  1620,  mer 
chants  of  Holland  were  willing  to  send  out  to  the  shores 
of  the  Hudson,  John  Robinson  and  his  Pilgrim  followers ; 
but  Robinson  and  his  people  demanded  a  guaranty  of 
protection  which  the  States  were  not  disposed  to  grant, 
and  the  Pilgrims  themselves  felt  reluctant  to  break  off 
all  connection  with  their  native  land.  For  several  years 
prior  to  this  date,  the  States  had  been  engrossed  in  theo 
logical  and  political  contests  of  the  gravest  character. 
Barneveldt,  the  republican  statesman,  perished  on  the 
scaffold,  and  Grotius  owed  his  life  to  the  ingenuity  and 
heroism  of  his  wife,  who  planned  his  escape  ^est  India 
from  prison.  Hindrances  to  the  organization  Company 

t  .,  °  chartered. 

ot  another  great  commercial  corporation  were 

at  length  removed,  and,  in  1621,  a  charter  was  given  to 

the  Dutch  West  India  Company.     Included  in  its  powers 


180  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

was  the  exclusive  liberty  to  plant  colonies  on  the  Ameri 
can  coast.  The  privileges  of  the  Company  in  regard  to 
planting  settlements  and  governing  them,  and  acquiring 
provinces,  were  almost  unlimited.  They  were  similar  to 
those  which  had  been  conferred  on  the  great  Dutch  cor 
poration  which  managed  the  commerce  and  trade  of  the 
East.  The  Company  was  to  be  governed  by  a  board  of 
nineteen,  a  majority  of  whom  belonged  to  the  Amsterdam 
branch.  One  of  the  members  of  the  board  was  to  be  ap 
pointed  by  the  States. 

The  new  Company  was  established,  not  mainly  to  found 
colonies,  but  for  purposes  of  trade.  But  before  it  was 
fully  organized,  complaint  was  made  by  the  represen- 
tives  of  the  Plymouth  Company  to  the  Privy  Council. 
Sir  Dudley  Carleton,  the  British  ambassador  at  the  Hague, 
demanded  of  the  States-General  that  they  should  prohib 
it  any  further  prosecution  of  the  enterprise.  The  whole 
country  north  of  Virginia,  Carleton  asserted,  had  been 
granted  by  patent  to  the  subjects  of  the  King  of  England, 
to  whom  it  belonged  "by  right  of  first  occupation."  No 
definite  answer  was  obtained  to  this  protest.  In  the 
spring  of  1623,  the  first  real  attempts  to  colonize  New 
Netherland  began.  A  company  of  Walloons— Protestant 
emigrants  from  the  Belgian  provinces — was  sent  over. 
Eight  men  were  left  at  Manhattan  to  take  possession  of 
The  Dutch  the  island  for  the  West  India  Company.  A 
SnMandhAi-  Par*  of  the  colonists  sailed  up  the  river  and 
bany.  ^uilt  Fort  Orange,  on  the  site  of  Albany.  In 

1G24,  civil  government  began  under  the  rule  of  Cornelius 
Jacobsen  May,  as  the  first  director.  Under  his  administra 
tion,  which  lasted  for  a  year,  another  Fort  Nassau  was 
completed  on  the  South  River — the  Delaware.  In  1625, 
two  large  ships  loaded  with  cattle  and  horses,  swine  and 
sheep,  arrived  at  Manhattan.  Emigration  continued,  and 
when  William  Verhulst,  in  that  year;  succeeded  May,  the 


NEW   YORK   TO   1688  181 

colony  numbered  more  than  two  hundred.  There  was  an 
alliance  between  Charles  I.  and  the  Dutch,  and  all  the 
circumstances  were  favorable  for  the  growth 
of  the  settlement.  Peter  Minuit,  who  came  of  Manhattan 
over  as  director  early  in  1626,  bought  the  isl 
and  of  Manhattan  of  the  natives  for  about  twenty-four 
dollars.*  There  was  correspondence  with  Bradford  at 
Plymouth,  and  an  embassy  to  him  ;  but  although  there 
were  mutual  arrangements  for  trade,  Bradford  signified 
to  the  authorities  at  New  Amsterdam  that  they  had  no 
clear  title  to  their  lands. 

In  1628,  Michaelius,  a  minister  of  the  Reformed 
Church,  came  over  and  organized  a  church  with  fifty 
communicants.  Before  that,  two  "  Consolers  of  the 
Sick,"  as  they  were  styled,  had  read  to  the  people  on  Sun 
days  texts  of  the  Bible  and  the  creeds.  These  persons 
were  of  a  class  of  recognized  officers  in  the  Church  of  Hol 
land.  The  exports  of  the  colony  for  several  years  were  far 
less  profitable  to  the  West  India  Company  than  were  the 
exploits  of  their  sailors,  by  whom  Spanish  vessels,  laden 
with  silver,  were  intercepted  and  captured.  The  company 
organized  its  colonists  by  the  establishment  among  them 
of  distinct  subordinate  colonies,  or  independent 
lordships.  The  lord  of  the  manor,  the  "  pa- 
troon,"  as  he  was  styled,  had  to  be  a  member  of  the  Com 
pany.  By  planting  a  colony  of  fifty  adults  anywhere,  ex 
cept  on  the  island  of  Manhattan — which  was  to  be  under 
the  direct  control  of  the  Amsterdam  chamber — he  became 
a  feudal  prince,  with  very  extensive  prerogatives  and  priv 
ileges,  ruling  over  a  broad  extent  of  territory,  of  which 
he  was  the  absolute  owner.  The  colonists  were  to  be  sub 
ject  to  the  patroon,  whose  service  they  might  not  leave 

*  It  is  a  small  sum,  but  had  it  been  placed  at  compound  interest, 
at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent.,  it  would  have  amounted,  at  the  end  of 
two  hundred  and  sixty-five  years,  to  $122,472,860. 


182  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

without  his  permission.  His  lands  might  extend  for  six 
teen  miles  in  length,  or  eight  miles  on  either  side  of  a 
navigable  river  if  both  banks  were  occupied.  They  might 
extend  as  far  into  the  interior  as  "the  situation  of  the  oc 
cupiers  "  would  permit.  Special  enticements  were  held 
out  to  colonists  to  emigrate  under  patroons.  They  were 
to  be  exempt  for  ten  years  from  taxation.  But  all  colon 
ists,  whether  independent  or  subject  to  patroons,  were  for 
bidden  to  manufacture  woollen,  linen,  or  cotton  cloth. 
The  interests  of  the  weavers  at  home  were  rigidly  guarded. 
All  settlers  beyond  the  limits  of  Manhattan  Island  were  re 
quired  to  purchase  their  land  of  the  Indians,  but  the  Com 
pany  agreed  to  supply  as  many  negroes  "  as  they  con 
veniently  could,"  to  be  their  slaves.  The  domains  of  the 
patroons  became  very  extensive.  The  landed  possessions 

of   Van   Rensselaer   grew  until  they  included 
The    do-         ,.  x  •   ,  -,.  ,  -i 

mains  of  the  a  district  extending  twenty-four  miles  on  the 
Hudson  below  Albany,  and  stretching  in  width 
for  a  distance  of  forty-eight  miles.  Another  director  was 
lord  of  what  is  now  Staten  Island,  Hoboken,  and  Jersey 
City.  In  1629,  two  directors  of  the  Amsterdam  chamber 
bought  of  the  Indians  the  land  between  Cape  Henlopen 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware  Biver.  By  their  control 
over  the  places  most  convenient  for  trade,  the  patroons 
held  to  a  great  extent  a  monopoly  of  commerce,  deprived 
poor  emigrants  of  this  means  of  profit,  and  gave  occasion 
to  frequent  contentions  with  the  central  government.  In 
1631,  an  expedition  under  Pieter  Heyes  established  a 
small  colony  near  the  present  town  of  Lewiston,  in  Dela 
ware,  and  by  this  act  of  occupancy  acquired  a  title  to  what 
was  one  day  to  be  a  State.  Crossing  to  the  Jersey  shore, 
Heyes  purchased  from  ten  Indian  chiefs  a  tract  of  land  on 
the  shore  of  the  bay,  north  of  Cape  May,  twelve  miles  in 
length,  and  extending  inward  for  the  same  distance.  A 
record  of  his  purchase  was  attested  by  Minuit  and  his 


NEW   YORK    TO    1G88  183 

council.  The  settlers  at  Lewiston  incurred  the  hostilit}'  of 
the  Indians,  in  consequence  of  which  they  were  all  slain, 
and  the  house  which  they  had  erected  was  burned. 

The  quarrels  of  the  patroons  with  the  agents  of  the 
West  India  Company,  growing  out  of  differences  con 
nected  with  the  fur  trade,  were  such  as  Min- 
uit  could  not  adjust.  He  was  recalled,  and,  in  ier  succeeds 
1G33,  an  unworthy  and  incompetent  successor,  * 
"Wouter  van  Twiller,  arrived  to  take  his  place.  He  ac 
complished  nothing  in  his  controversy  writh  the  settlers 
of  Connecticut.  The  Dutch  could  justly  allege  that  their 
fort  at  Hartford  was  built  before  the  corning  of  any 
Englhh  occupants  of  the  soil.  But  this  was  not  al 
lowed  by  the  Connecticut  people  as  sufficient  to  nullify 
the  English  title  derived  from  the  grant  of  King  James. 
The  Connecticut  settlers,  moreover,  planted  a  portion  of 
Long  Island.  On  the  south,  as  well  as  the  east,  the  pos 
sessions  claimed  by  the  Dutch  were  threatened.  In  1638, 
a  colony  of  Swedes  and  Finns,  sent  out  by  a  The  Swediph 
company  which  owed  its  existence  to  Gusta-  settlement. 
vus  Adolphus  and  his  great  chancellor,  Oxenstiern,  made 
a  settlement  within  the  limits  of  the  present  State  of 
Delaware,  near  the  mouth  of  Christiana  Creek.  The  fort 
which  they  erected  they  named  Fort  Christiana.  Kieft, 
who  was  now  the  director  at  New  Amsterdam,  sent  home 
an  account  of  the  arrival  of  the  Swedish  emigrants,  and 
made  a  protest  to  Minuit,  who,  being  at  this  time  in  the 
service  of  Sweden,  was  their  leader.  But  it  was  not 
deemed  expedient  to  resort  to  force  to  expel  the  new 
comers,  who  were  protected  by  the  flag  of  Sweden.  Fresh 
emigrants  arrived,  and  in  1643,  Printz,  the  Swedish  Gov 
ernor,  took  up  his  abode  and  built  a  fort  on  the  island 
of  Tinicum,  a  few  miles  below  the  site  of  Philadelphia. 
Thus  a  New  Sweden  was  growing  up  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Delaware  Bay  and  River. 


184  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

The  rashness  and  wilfulness  of  Kieft  were  responsible 
for  serious  troubles  with  the  Indians.  Quarrels  sprung 
Trouble  with  UP  between  the  natives  and  the  traders.  The 
the  Indians.  AigO11kins  would  have  welcomed  peace  for  the 
sake  of  being  protected  against  the  Mohawks,  who  re 
garded  them  as  tributaries,  and  sent  a  force  of  warriors 
to  enforce  their  claim.  But  Kieft  availed  himself  of  the 
occasion  to  make  a  murderous  attack  on  the  Algonkins, 
which  they,  with  the  aid  of  allies  far  and  near,  avenged. 
Ann  Hutchinson  and  her  family  perished  at  their  hands. 
At  last,  in  1645,  a  delegate  from  the  Mohawks  appeared, 
and  with  his  assent,  the  Algonkin  sachems  and  the  au 
thorities  of  New  Netherland  concluded  a  treaty. 

On  May  27,  1647,  Peter  Stuyvesant  began  his  govern 
ment,  Kieft  having  been  superseded.  "  The  island  of  New 
Peter  stuy-  York  was  *nen  chiefly  divided  among  farmers  ; 

vesant.  the  large  forests  which  covered  the  Park  and 
the  adjacent  region,  long  remained  a  common  pasture, 
where,  for  yet  a  quarter  of  a  century,  tanners  could  ob 
tain  bark  and  boys  chestnuts  ;  and  the  soil  was  so  little 
valued  that  Stuyvesant  thought  it  no  wrong  to  his  employ 
ers  to  purchase  of  them,  at  a  small  price,  an  extensive 
bowery  just  beyond  the  coppices,  among  which  browsed 
the  goats  and  the  kine  of  the  village."  Under  the  freedom 
of  trade — export  duties  being,  however,  required — the  col 
ony,  had  it  been  well  governed,  might  have  rapidly  ad 
vanced  in  prosperity.  But  Stuyvesant,  although  energet 
ic  and  honest,  was  a  choleric  and  tyrannical  ruler.  He 
sternly  resisted  the  demands  of  the  people  for  municipal 
government.  The  example  of  New  England  increased 
their  natural  desire  to  have  some  part  in  political  man 
agement.  At  length  he  consented  that  the  people  should 
nominate  eighteen  Councillors,  from  whom  he  was  to 
appoint  nine.  But  the  arrangement  for  filling  the  vacan 
cies  was  such  that  the  people  had  no  further  agency  in 


NEW   YORK   TO   1688  185 

the  matter.  The  disaffected  Councillors  at  length  suc 
ceeded  in  making  their  petitions  heard  by  delegates,  who 
obtained  in  Holland  from  the  States-General  good  meas 
ures  ;  but  the  Company  did  not  adopt  them,  and  Stuy- 
vesant  did  not  alter  his  course. 

The  spread  of  the  New  England  settlers  westward 
moved  the  Dutch  Governor,  in  1650,  to  repair  in  person 
to  Hartford.  A  treaty  was  made — which  was  Treat  wlth 
never  ratified  by  England — that  made  Oyster  Connecticut. 
Bay,  on  Long  Island,  the  western  boundary  of  the  New 
Englanders,  and  Greenwich  as  their  limit  on  the  main 
land.  The  Governor  was  more  successful  Attack  on 
against  the  Swedes.  An  attack  by  the  Swed-  the  Swedes. 
ish  Governor,  Rysingh,  on  a  Dutch  fort  near  Christiana, 
was  followed,  in  1655,  by  an  expedition  of  Stuyvesant  to 
the  Delaware  River.  The  Swedish  forts  were  taken,  and 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Dutch  over  the  territory  was  ac 
knowledged. 

In  1656,  Delaware  became  by  purchase  subject  to  the 
city  of  Amsterdam  as  proprietary.  The  monopoly  in 
trade  which  that  city  established  prevented  Delaware 
their  settlements  from  prospering  or  increas-  Purchased- 
ing  in  numbers.  While  Stuyvesant  was  conquering  New 
Sweden,  ravages  were  committed  by  the  Indians  near 
New  Amsterdam. 

During  the  administration  of  Stuyvesant,  there  oc 
curred,  under  his  countenance  and  aid,  a  lamentable  out 
breaking  of  intolerance  against  the  Lutherans.  Religious 
The  Established  Church  of  Holland  exercised  contests, 
authority  over  the  colonies  of  the  West  India  Company 
in  relation  to  religious  and  ecclesiastical  affairs.  The 
ministers  were  commissioned  and  sent  out  by  the  classis 
of  Amsterdam,  a  body  answering  to  a  presbytery.  The 
clergy  were  strict  Calvinists.  In  1656,  there  were  four 
Dutch  clergymen  in  New  Netherland.  They  were  active 


ISO  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

in  their  religious  duties,  and  some  attempts  were  even 
made  to  teach  the  Gospel  to  Indians.  But  nothing 
of  any  account  was  done  for  popular  education.  There 
were  no  schools,  except  at  Manhattan  and  one  or  two 
other  places.  Ecclesiastical  animosity  was  kindled  against 
the  Baptists  and  the  Lutherans.  Lutherans  were  fined 
and  imprisoned.  But  the  Governor  was  rebuked  by 
the  West  India  Company  for  his  acts  of  persecution. 
A  little  later,  in  1657,  a  proclamation,  somewhat  simi 
lar  to  enactments  of  Massachusetts,  was  issued  against 
the  Quakers.  During  a  series  of  years,  without  the 
approval  of  the  Company,  forcible  measures  were  taken 
against  them.  They  were  fined,  whipped,  imprisoned, 
and  banished.  Persecution  ceased  in  New  Netherland, 
when,  in  1663,  the  Company,  in  their  despatches  to 
Stuyvesant,  condemned  "rigorous  proceedings"  against 
"sectarians,"  as  long  as  they  should  be  modest  and  mod 
erate  in  their  behavior,  and  not  disobedient  to  the  gov 
ernment. 

In  1652,  in  consequence  of  persistent,  earnest  com 
plaints  and  petitions,  a  court  of  justice  was  constituted 
for  New  Amsterdam  ;  but  in  the  selection  of  its  members 
the  people  were  to  have  no  part.  In  1653,  the  villages 
of  their  own  section  sent,  each  of  them,  two  delegates 
to  a  convention,  which  set  forth  in  a  remon- 
fo?  GpSpau"ur  strance  and  petition  their  demand  for  a  popu- 
franchise.  -^  franc]1isee  Stuyvesant,  who  was  supported 
by  the  Company,  rejected  their  requests  with  an  abun 
dant  display  of  arrogance,  and  dissolved  the  convention. 
As  time  went  on,  the  troubles,  both  of  the  Governor  and 
of  the  colony,  multiplied.  The  claims  of  Lord  Baltimore 
to  the  territory  between  New  Castle  and  Cape  Henlopen 
were  denied,  and  the  Dutch  jurisdiction  there  was  main 
tained.  But  the  endeavors  to  withstand  the  encroach 
ments  of  Connecticut  were  ineffectual,  although  Stuyve- 


NEW    YORK    TO    1688  187 

sant  made  a  journey  to  Boston,  in  1653,  and  laid  his 
grievances  before  the  Confederate  colonies. 

The  charter  which  the  younger  Winthrop  had  obtained 
from  Charles  II.,  gave  to  Connecticut  the  northern  half 
of  New  Netherland  and  the  whole  of  Long  Isl-  Relations  to 
and.  In  addition  to  all  other  perils,  the  Dutch  Co™ecticilt- 
were  at  war  with  the  Esopus  Indians.  Their  treasury, 
moreover,  was  exhausted.  Stuyvesant,  instigated  by  the 
municipal  government  of  New  Amsterdam,  was  ready  to 
appeal  to  the  people.  An  assembly  of  delegates  from  the 
villages  sent  a  spirited  remonstrance  to  the  Amsterdam 
Chamber,  in  which  these  calamities  were  attributed  to 
the  neglect  and  mismanagement  of  the  authorities  in  Hol 
land.  The  men  of  Connecticut  made  no  delay  in  their 
efforts  to  extend  the  actual  jurisdiction  of  their  colony 
over  the  towns  on  Long  Island.  To  add  to  the  compli 
cations,  John  Scott,  who  had  been  placed  by  Connecticut 
as  a  magistrate  there,  announced  in  the  English  villages 
that  the  island  had  been  granted  by  the  King  to  his 
brother,  the  Duke  of  York.  Scott  was  made  "  President " 
of  a  number  of  towns  which  were  not  ready  to  be  annexed 
to  Connecticut.  He  set  about  bringing  the  Dutch  vil 
lages  under  his  sway.  The  details  of  the  conflict  of  Stuy 
vesant  with  him,  of  the  Governor's  controversy  with  the 
Connecticut  authorities,  and  of  their  proceedings  against 
Scott,  need  not  here  be  given.  These  contests  were  ter 
minated  by  the  arrival  of  an  English  fleet,  carrying  a  body 
of  troops,  for  the  purpose  of  conquering  New  Hollaed  aud 
Netherland.  They  were  sent  by  the  Duke  of  Enslacd- 
York,  Lord  High  Admiral,  to  whom  his  brother,  Charles 
H.,  had  made  a  grant  of  the  territory  lying  between  the 
Connecticut  and  the  Delaware  Rivers,  and  comprehending 
Long  Island.  The  English  seizure  of  New  Netherland 
was  due,  in  the  main,  to  commercial  rivalry.  It  was  a 
product  of  the  contest  of  England  and  Holland  for  the 


188  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

dominion  of  the  seas  and  the  profits  of  commerce.  It 
was  against  Holland  that  the  Navigation  Act  of  1660 
was  chiefly  directed,  an  Act  which  was  passed  under  the 
Commonwealth,  and  was  energetially  carried  out  under 
Charles  II.  Cromwell  had  proposed  to  take  possession 
of  New  Netherland,  but  he  gained  such  advantages  by  the 
treaty  of  1654  that  he  desisted  from  the  plan,  and  recog 
nized  the  Dutch  title.  Under  the  rule  of  the  trading 
corporation  to  which  it  belonged,  New  Netherland  did 
not  thrive.  Its  population  was  not  above  seven  thousand, 
when  in  the  New  England  colonies  there  were  more  than 
a  hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  The  New  Netherland- 
ers  were  conscious  of  the  disadvantages  under  which  they 
labored  in  comparison  with  their  more  prosperous  Eng 
lish  neighbors.  In  England  it  was  well  understood  that 
Virginia  and  Maryland  would  not  be  withheld  by  legal 
enactments  from  trading  with  the  Dutch.  If  the  Navi 
gation  Act  was  to  be  carried  out,  and  an  immense  loss  to 
English  merchants  thereby  prevented,  the  law  must  be 
put  in  force  along  the  entire  coast.  In  1663,  the  farmers 
of  customs  complained  that  there  was  a  loss  to  the  king 
dom  of  ten  thousand  pounds  a  year.  When  the  States- 
General  called  upon  Clarendon,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  for 
a  settlement  of  boundaries  between  the  Dutch  and  the 
English  territory  in  America,  it  was  resolved,  despite 
Cromwell's  concession  in  1654,  to  proceed  in  a  summary 
way  and  to  take  possession  of  New  Netherland.  Claren 
don,  at  the  same  time,  was  determined  to  bring  the  terri 
tory  to  be  acquired,  as  well  as  the  colonies  already  sub 
ject  to  England,  under  the  control  of  the  King,  and  to 
prevent  any  further  growth  of  local  independence.  The 
territory  which  had  been  conveyed,  in  1635,  to  Lord 
Stirling,  comprising  a  district  in  Maine,  and  Long  Isl 
and,  was  purchased  from  him.  A  force  of  four  hundred 
and  fifty  regular  troops,  in  four  ships,  which  carried  also 


NEW   YORK  TO   1688  189 

the  Commissioners  for  the   regulation   of  the   English 
colonies,  was  sent  over,  under  the  command  of  Colonels 


Nicolls,  Carr,  and  Cartwright.  Stuyvesant  Conque,tof 
made  all  the  exertions  that  a  spirited  soldier  ^w  Nether- 
would  naturally  make,  to  prepare  for  resistance.  English. 
But  resistance  was  hopeless.  When  the  city  authorities 
of  Manhattan,  the  clergymen,  and  the  officers  of  the 
burgher  guard,  united  in  begging  the  imperious  Govern 
or  no  longer  to  oppose  the  inevitable,  he  yielded  up  the 
place.  The  surrender  of  Fort  Orange  and  of  the  places 
on  the  Delaware  soon  occurred.  The  royal  province,  and 
New  Amsterdam  as  well,  which  then  contained  fifteen 
hundred  inhabitants,  now  received  the  name  of  New  York. 
Fort  Orange  was  named  after  the  Duke's  second  title, 
Albany.  The  municipal  officers  of  New  Amsterdam  con 
tinued  in  power.  The  property,  the  civil  rights,  and  the 
religion  of  the  citizens  were  guaranteed  in  the  Thenewgov- 
capitulation.  The  neglect  with  which  they  had  eminent. 
been  treated  by  the  home  government  made  it  easier  to 
break  the  tie  of  loyalty  to  Holland.  Nicolls,  as  the 
deputy  of  the  Duke  of  York,  acted  as  Governor.  To  him 
and  his  Council  public  authority  was  entrusted.  There 
was  to  be  no  election  of  magistrates  by  the  people.  The 
courts  were  constituted  after  the  English  models.  The 
significant  features  of  the  code  of  laws,  called  the  Duke's 
Laws,  were  "  trial  by  jury,  equal  taxation,  tenure  of  lands 
from  the  Duke  of  York,  no  religious  establishment,  but 
requirement  of  some  church  form,  freedom  of  religion 
to  all  professing  Christianity,  obligatory  service  in  each 
parish  on  Sunday,  a  recognition  of  negro  slavery  un 
der  certain  restrictions,  and  general  liability  to  military 
duty."  By  a  friendly  arrangement,  divine  service,  ac 
cording  to  the  forms  of  the  English  Church,  was  held  in 
the  Dutch  house  of  worship  at  New  Amsterdam,  when 
the  service  of  the  Reformed  Church  was  over.  The  city 


190  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

government  was  altered  to  conform  to  the  customs  of 
England.  Nicolls  was  an  able  and  faithiul  ruler.  But 
he  was  painfully  disturbed  by  the  news  that,  from  mo 
tives  of  friendship,  the  Duke  of  York  had  inconsiderately 
made  a  grant  of  the  territory  of  Nova  Caesarea,  or  New 
Jersey,  to  Sir  George  Carteret  and  Lord  Berkeley.  The 
right  of  jurisdiction,  although  not  expressly  conveyed, 
was  claimed  by  them. 

The  refusal  of  Clarendon  to  accept  the  terms  proposed 
by  Louis  XIV.,  for  peace  between  England  and  Holland, 
War  be-  ^Q&  to  a  declaration  of  war  by  France,  and  to 
lUnd  angti  a  counter-declaration  by  England,  in  January, 
1666.  An  order  was  sent  out  to  the  American 
colonies  to  conquer  New  France.  But  it  was  found  to 
be  impracticable  to  engage  in  hostilities  in  that  direction. 
The  French,  not  satisfied  with  the  relations  in  which 
they  stood  with  the  Five  Nations,  made  war  upon  them, 
and  succeeded  in  forcing  them  to  recognize  Louis  as 
their  protector  and  sovereign.  The  peace  of  Breda, 
which  ended  the  European  war,  confirmed  the  English 
in  their  possession  of  New  Netheiiand.  Nicolls  was  per 
mitted  to  return  to  England.  He  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Lovelace,  who  was  prudent,  and  of 
a  moderate  temper.  Fisheries  and  trade  with  the  other 
colonies  were  encouraged.  The  triple  alliance  of  1668, 
in  which  Great  Britain  was  joined  with  Holland  and 
Sweden,  tended  to  cement  the  union  of  the  Dutch  and 
English  inhabitants  of  New  York.  There  was  occasional 
trouble  about  taxes,  especially  on  Long  Island,  and  there 
were  contests  respecting  boundaries  with  Connecticut  and 
with  Massachusetts. 

In  1673,  in  the  war  against  Holland,  in  which  the  Eng- 

New  Neth-  ^sn  anc^  French  were  allied,  New  York  sur- 

(ui^b1  rethke   renc^ere(i  to  a  Dutch  squadron,  and   the   rule 

Dutch.  Of  the  Hollanders  was  extended  over  the  prov- 


NEW    YORK   TO   1688  191 

ince,  to  the  joy  of  many  of  the  old  Dutch  inhabitants. 
The  Prince  of  Orange  was  sagacious  enough  to  see  that 
New  York  would  be  a  precarious  possession,  and  in  the 
treaty  of  1674  it  was  restored  to  the  English.  Returned  to 
Sir  Edmund  Andros  received  the  government  the  Enshsh- 
from  the  hands  of  Colve,  the  Dutch  ruler  in  this  inter 
val.  Andros  was  a  firm,  and,  on  the  whole,  a  wise  Gov 
ernor.  He  abstained  from  the  use  of  force  to  bring 
Western  Connecticut  under  his  authority.  He  cultivated 
the  friendship  of  the  Mohawk  Indians,  and  formed  an  al 
liance  with  the  Iroquois,  an  act  of  the  utmost  importance 
in  relation  to  the  great  conflict  with  the  French  that  was 
sure  to  come.  The  new  patent  that  was  issued  to  the  Duke 
of  York  in  1674,  enlarged  his  authority.  He  enforced  the 
Navigation  Act,  and  by  promoting  intercourse  with  Eng 
land  did  much  to  make  New  York  "  the  most  English  in 
sentiment  of  the  American  colonies."  In  a  description  of 
New  York,  from  the  pen  of  Andros,  in  1G78,  he  New  York 
speaks  of  it  as  containing  twenty-four  towns  or  described  by 

Andros. 

villages,  enumerates  its  products  and  exports, 
and  says  that  the  men  capable  of  bearing  arms  are  two 
thousand  in  number.  He  adds  :  "  Religions  of  all  sorts — 
one  Church  of  England,  several  Presbyterians  and  Inde 
pendents,  Quakers,  and  Anabaptists  of  several  sects,  some 
Jews,  but  Presbyterians  and  Independents  most  numer 
ous  and  substantial."  Under  the  direction  of  the  Gov 
ernor,  a  classis  of  the  Reformed  Church  was  established 
in  New  York  for  the  purpose  of  ordaining  ministers.  In 
reference  to  New  Jersey,  Andros  contended  for  the  juris 
diction  of  the  Duke  there,  arrested  Carteret,  and  refused 
to  liberate  him  after  a  jury  had  acquitted  him.  The  dis 
putes  in  regard  to  New  Jersey,  in  connection  Dor 
with  complaints  against  him  on  some  other 
matters,  led  to  his  recall  to  England,  where  he  was  fully 
exonerated  from  blame.  In  1683,  Thomas  Dongan,  an 


192  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

Irish  officer,  was  made  Governor.  He  brought  with  him 
instructions  to  issue  writs  for  an  Assembly  to  share  with 
the  Governor  and  Council  in  the  work  of  legislation.  No 
tax  was  to  be  levied  without  its  sanction.  But  no  act 
was  to  be  valid  without  the  assent  of  the  Duke.  The  As- 
c barter  of  sembly  passed  a  "  charter  of  liberties  and  priv- 

liberhes.  ileges,"  among  which  was  included  a  guaranty 
of  "freedom  of  conscience  and  religion"  to  those  "who 
profess  faith  in  God  by  Jesus  Christ."  The  act  was  ap 
proved  by  the  Duke,  but  not  until  October,  1684.  Don- 
gan  was  himself  a  Koman  Catholic.  As  far  as  the  rela 
tions  of  New  York  to  the  Indians  and  the  French  were 
concerned,  he  did  everything  that  he  could  to  promote 
its  interests.  He  made  friends  with  the  natives,  and  baf 
fled  the  designs  of  the  French. 

The  Duke  of  York,  on  his  accession  to  the  throne,  as 

James   H.,  in    1685,    abolished   the   popular  Assembly. 

New  York  became  a  royal  province  instead  of 

New  York  .      .    n      ., 

aroyaiprov-  a  nominal  duchy.  Ihe  treacherous  treatment 
of  the  Iroquois  by  the  French  fortified  their 
alliance  with  the  English.  In  1688.  Andros  arrived  on 
his  mission  to  consolidate  the  northern  colonies  under  a 
vice-regal  government.  On  August  llth,  he  began  the 
exercise  of  his  authority  in  New  York.  He  went  to  Al 
bany  and  renewed  the  covenant  with  the  Iroquois.  He 
notified  the  Governor  of  Canada  that  the  Five  Nations 
would  be  protected  as  the  subjects  of  the  King  of  Eng 
land.  The  feeling  of  the  Protestant  inhabitants  of  New 
York  was  the  same  as  that  of  Protestants  in  the  other 
colonies  and  in  England.  There  was  a  distrust  of  James 
and  a  belief  that  his  policy  of  religious  toleration  was  a 
part  of  a  scheme  by  which  he  hoped  more  effectually  to 
build  up  the  Koman  Catholic  cause  in  England,  and  to 
advance  the  dominion  of  the  papacy.  When  the  news  of 
the  Revolution  of  1688  arrived,  the  people  rose  under  the 


NEW   YORK   TO   1688  193 

leadership  of  a  German  named  Leisler,  who  seized  the 
fort.     The  government  was  placed  in  his  hands.     Nichol 
son,  the  Deputy  Governor,  sailed  for  England.   The  revolt  of 
Leisler  was  arbitrary  and  violent  in  his  pro 
ceedings.      In  opposition   to  him,  another   government 
was  set  up  at  Albany.     As  we  shall  see,  it  was  not  until 
1692  that  the   conflicts  and   dissensions  which   ensued 
upon  the  Revolution  passed  by,  and  the  province  again 
found  itself  under  a  stable  government. 
13 


CHAPTEE   X. 

NEW   JERSEY   TO    1688 

Grant  to  Berkeley  and  Carteret— Settlement  at  Elizabeth — Settle 
ment  at  Newark — East  Jersey — West  Jersey  Acquired  by  Penn 
and  His  Associates — Sale  to  Penn  of  Carteret's  Rights— Scot 
tish  Emigration  to  East  Jersey — Effect  of  the  Revolution  of 
1688. 

THE  immediate  gift  of  the  territory  of  New  Jersey  by 
the  Duke  of  York  to  two  courtiers,  Lord  John  Berke 
ley  and  Sir  George  Carteret,  proved  a  fruitful  source  of 
contention  and  injustice.  It  was  called  "Nova  Cacsarea" 
in  honor  of  Carteret's  brave  defence  of  the  island  of  Jer 
sey,  which  he  held  for  Charles  II.;  but  the  corresponding 
English  name  soon  supplanted  the  Latin.  The  deed  of 
transfer  gave  to  the  two  proprietors  all  the  powers  which 
belonged  to  the  Duke,  "in  as  full  and  ample  a  manner 
as  they  had  been  possessed  by  him."  For  the  reason 
that  powers  of  government  were  not  explicitly  mentioned, 
there  was  afterward  much  dispute  on  the  question  whether 
the}r  were  included  in  the  Duke's  grant.  In  February, 
1665,  the  proprietors  prepared  an  instrument  comprising 
The  Consti-  "  concessions  and  agreements/'  for  all  present 
and  prospective  settlers.  This  document 
served  as  a  constitution  for  the  community  under  their 
charge.  The  government  was  to  be  lodged  in  a  Gov 
ernor,  Council,  and  an  Assembly  of  representatives.  The 
Governor  and  Council  were  to  appoint  and  remove  all 
officers.  They  could  levy  no  tax  without  the  consent  of 


NEW  JERSEY   TO   1688  19f) 

the  Assembly.  The  Assembly  was  to  frame  the  laws, 
which,  in  order  to  be  valid,  must  be  approved  by  the 
Governor,  and  at  the  end  of  a  year  sanctioned  by  the 
Lords  Proprietors.  Tracts  of  land  were  offered  to  emi 
grants,  male  and  female,  including  servants  as  well  as 
freemen.  After  1670,  annual  quit-rents  \vere  to  be  paid 
by  landholders.  Oaths  of  fealty  to  the  King  and  fidelity 
to  the  Lords  were  required  of  all  freemen.  Liberty 
of  conscience  was  guaranteed.  Land  was  given  to  par 
ishes  for  the  support  of  ministers.  Philip  Carteret,  a 
relative  of  Sir  George,  was  made  Governor.  He  brought 
over  with  him  a  small  company  of  settlers,  by  whom  the 
town  of  Elizabeth  was  founded. 

On  arriving  at  New  York  in  the  summer  of  1666,  Car 
teret  was  informed  that  Nicolls,  the  Deputy  Governor, 
ignorant  of  the  deed  granted  by  the  Duke,  had  phiiip  carter- 
confirmed  certain  parties  in  the  possession  of  et>  Governor- 
a  tract  of  land  on  the  New  Jersey  shore,  west  of  the  strait 
between  Staten  Island  and  the  mainland,  and  also  of  a 
tract  near  Sandy  Hook.  Middle  town  and  Shrewsbury  (in 
what  is  now  Monmouth  County)  grew  up  on  the  tracts 
thus  bestowed.  Carteret  and  his  company  found  that  at 
the  place  now  called  Elizabeth  some  settlers  had  already 
taken  up  their  abode.  The  publication  of  the  "  conces 
sions  "  drew  additional  emigrants  from  the  eastern  colo 
nies.  In  1666,  on  a  part  of  the  Elizabethtown  tract  some  of 
these  emigrants  planted  Newark.  They  adopted  the  rule 
of  the  New  Haven  colony,  from  which  they  came,  that  only 
church  members  should  vote.  The  New  Jersey  settlers 
were  at  peace  with  the  Indians  about  them,  since  these 
were  subordinate  to  the  confederacy  of  the  Five  Nations. 
The  first  Assembly  was  convened  at  Eliza-  The  firpt  As_ 
bethtown  in  1668.  Two  sessions  were  held  in  eembiy. 
that  year.  But  during  the  next  seven  years  no  meet 
ings  of  the  Assembly  took  place.  This  was  probably  ow- 


196  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

ing  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  settlements,  which  had 
received  their  lands  from  Nicolls's  grant,  and  were  not 
disposed  to  come  into  subjection  to  the  rule  of  the  Pro 
prietors.  In  1670,  the  other  towns  objected  to  paying 
quit-rents.  An  Assembly  was  held  in  1672,  composed  of 
deputies  of  Elizabethtown  and  of  the  places  in  sympathy 
with  this  settlement,  but  this  body  was  not  recognized  by 
the  Governor  and  Council.  It  proceeded  to  appoint  a 
"President,"  to  act  in  the  room  of  a  Governor,  and 
James  Carteret,  a  son  of  Sir  George,  who  was  passing 
through  New  Jersey,  so  far  disregarded  the  rights  of  his 
father  as  to  accept  the  place.  Governor  Philip  Carteret 
repaired  to  England  to  make  known  the  situation  and 
to  procure  a  remedy.  Messages  came  from  Charles  II. 
and  the  Duke  of  York  to  Deputy-Governor  Berry  con 
firming  him  in  his  authority,  and  commanding  the  set 
tlers  to  yield  obedience.  The  effect  was  the  restoration 
of  quiet  and  union.  The  Dutch  reconquest  of  New 
"York,  in  1673,  brought  in  no  essential  changes  and 
caused  no  commotion  in  New  Jersey.  When  New  York 
was  restored  by  treaty  to  the  English,  the  Duke  of  York 
confirmed  his  previous  grant  to  Carteret  of  his  moiety 
of  the  territory  in  East  Jersey.  In  1676,  the  line  be 
tween  East  and  West  Jersey  was  defined  to  run  from  the 
"  east  side  of  Little  Egg  Harbor,  straight  north  through 
the  country,  to  the  utmost  branch  of  the  Delaware  lliver," 
in  41°  40'  north  latitude. 

In  1674,  Berkeley  had  disposed  of  his  portion  of  the  un 
divided  province  to  John  Fenwicke,  in  trust  for  Edward 
West   Jer-  Byllinge,  both  of  them  Quakers.     By  other  acts 
Pennine!  °^  BS^e  an^  transference,  West  Jersey  became 
the  possession  of  William  Peun  and  four  of 
his  Quaker  brethren.     In  1677,  and  in  the  following  year, 
there  was  a  large  emigration  of  Friends  to  West  Jersey. 
The  Constitution  which  was  prepared  for  the  colony  by 


NEW   JERSEY   TO   1688  197 

Perm  contained  an  emphatic  assertion  of  the  doctrine  of 
religious  freedom.  The  right  of  trial  by  jury  was  guar 
anteed.  Executive  authority  was  lodged  in  a  body  of 
commissioners.  The  power  to  enact  laws  was  conferred 
on  an  Assembly  to  be  chosen  by  popular  vote  and  to 
meet  yearly. 

Philip  Carteret  came  back,  in  1674,  as  Governor  of 
East  Jersey.  Andros,  the  Duke's  Governor  in  New 
York,  bent  on  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  Navi 
gation  Act,  claimed  the  exclusive  right  to  collect  cus 
toms  in  East  Jersey  and  to  interfere  with  direct  trade 
there.  His  negotiations  with  Carteret  produced  no  re 
sult.  Hence  the  arrest  of  the  latter,  his  trial  and  im 
prisonment  in  New  York,  even  after  he  was  acquitted. 
The  decision  of  the  Duke  of  York  was  in  favor  of  Car 
teret,  the  East  Jersey  proprietor.  The  Duke  claimed 
only  the  reserved  rent.  The  death  of  Sir  George  Car 
teret  led  to  the  sale  of  his  rights  in  East  Jer-  East  Jersey 
sey,  which  now  became  the  property  of  Will-  j^^J 
iam  Penn  and  twenty-three  other  proprietors.  others- 
Among  them  were  Royalists,  Dissenters,  and  Quakers. 
This  was  in  March,  1682.  Eobert  Barclay,  an  eminent 
author  and  leader  among  the  Friends,  was  appointed 
Governor,  but  he  remained  in  England,  his  Deputy  be 
ing  a  lawyer,  Thomas  Rudyard.  Rudyard's  successor, 
Lawrie,  a  London  merchant,  brought  out  with  him 
a  body  of  laws,  supplementary  to  the  "Concessions." 
Lawrie  wrote  to  the  English  Proprietors  :  "  There  is  not 
a  poor  body  in  all  the  province,  nor  [one]  that  wants." 
A  publication,  in  1685,  by  the  Proprietors,  setting  forth 
the  advantages  offered  to  settlers,  led  to  the  emigration 
of  two  hundred  in  one  vessel,  the  Henry  and  Francis. 
A  visit  to  Governor  Dongan,  at  New  York,  established 
amicable  relations  between  him  and  Lawrie.  In  1684, 
a  "Board  of  Proprietors,"  resident  in  the  colony,  was 


198  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

put  in  charge  of  certain  details  of  business  which  had 
before  been  referred  to  the  Proprietors  in  England.  By 
them  the  town  of  Perth — Perth-Amboy — was  built  up. 
In  West  Jersey,  in  1680  and  1681,  Edward  ByUinge  was 
made  Governor,  and  Samuel  Jenings  his  deputy.  The 
Assembly  made  the  attempt  to  elect  Jenings  as  Gov 
ernor,  but  this  claim  to  choose  the  Governor  was  not  al 
lowed  in  England. 

There  was  a  large  influx  of  emigrants  into  East  Jersey 
from  Scotland.  Lord  Neill  Campbell,  a  brother  of  the 
Earl  of  Argyle,  was  made  the  successor  of  Lawrie.  He 
was  followed,  in  1687,  in  the  same  office,  by  Andrew  Ham 
ilton,  who  had  been  a  merchant  in  London.  When  the 
purpose  of  James  H.,  to  unite  the  northern  colonies  un 
der  one  government  was  discovered,  both  East  Jersey  and 
West  Jersey  thought  it  wise  to  make  no  resist- 
annexecirs<tyo  ance.  Both  provinces  were  annexed  to  New 

New  York.        y^       By    ^    Reyolution    Qf    1688j    ftnd    t]ie 

overthrow  of  the  government  of  Andros,  the  provinces 
were  left  under  no  other  control  than  that  of  the  county 
and  town  officers.  The  Proprietors  abstained  from  re 
suming  their  authority.  Hamilton  at  first  maintained  a 
kind  of  neutrality,  and  soon  sailed  for  England  to  consult 
with  the  Proprietors  there.  When  he  reached  England 
he  resigned  his  office  as  Deputy  Governor. 


CHAPTER    XL 

PENNSYLVANIA  TO  1688 

Early  Life  of  Perm — Grant  to  Him  by  James  II. — Perm's  Charter — 
His  Constitution — The  Body  of  Laws — Penn's  Treatment  of  the 
Indians — Emigration  to  Pennsylvania — Religion  in  the  Colony 
— Penn  in  England — Disorder  in  the  Colony  —  Pennsylvania 
Described. 

No  one  of  the  founders  of  the  English  colonies  in 
America  who  themselves  crossed  the  ocean  was  in  his  own 
time  so  famous  as  William  Penu.  He  is  asso- 

,     -,      •  ,*,    s-i  -n  -i        •       •      i  William  Penn. 

ciated  with  George  i  ox  as  the  second  principal 
leader  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  to  whom  he  was  endeared 
by  great  services  and  great  sufferings  in  behalf  of  their 
cause.  His  birth  and  social  position  gave  him  access  to 
people  of  rank  in  England,  including  Charles  H.  and 
James  H.,  both  of  whom,  especially  the  latter,  were  dis 
posed,  from  friendship  for  his  father,  to  further  his  plans. 
The  father,  Admiral  Sir  William  Penn,  on  the  depo 
sition  of  Richard  Cromwell  had  declared  for  Charles. 
He  distinguished  himself  by  wresting  Jamaica  from  the 
Spanish  in  1655,  and,  ten  years  later,  in  battle  against 
the  Dutch.  While  at  Oxford  the  younger  Penn,  who  in 
childhood  had  at  times  been  the  subject  of  strong  relig 
ious  emotions,  was  much  influenced  by  the  preaching  of 
Thomas  Loe,  a  Quaker,  and  after  a  two  years'  residence 
was  expelled  from  the  University,  partly  on  account  of 
his  refusal  to  attend  its  regular  worship.  This  brought 
on  him  the  wrath  of  his  father,  who  turned  him  out  of 


200  THE    COLONIAL   ERA 

doors.  He  was  sent  by  the  Admiral,  who  was  by  no 
means  implacable,  to  Paris,  to  be  cured  of  his  folly,  as  it 
was  deemed,  by  means  of  social  gayeties.  The  remedy 
appears  to  have  been  for  the  time  effectual.  He  mingled 
in  the  pleasures  of  the  French  court,  and  during  his  stay 
on  the  Continent  visited  Italy.  Yet,  while  he  was  in 
France,  he  was  taught  for  a  while  by  Amyraut,  a  liberal- 
minded  Calvinistic  theologian  of  high  repute.  Abroad, 
as  well  as  in  his  varied  experiences  at  home,  he  gained  an 
acquaintance  with  different  sorts  and  conditions  of  men 
which  proved  of  essential  service  to  him.  After  his  re 
turn,  he  once  more  met  Loe,  in  Ireland  ;  his  religious 
feelings  were  awakened  anew,  and  he  espoused,  heart  and 
soul,  the  religious  ideas  of  the  Quakers,  to  whom,  through 
good  report  and  evil  report— almost  exclusively  through 
Perm's  char-  ev^  reP°rt — he  forever  adhered.  Penn  united 
acter.  a  considerable  measure  of  natural  shrewdness 
with  an  unaffected  clevoutness.  The  numerous  writings 
that  sprung  from  his  prolific  pen  display,  in  connection 
with  the  mystical  vein  to  be  looked  for  in  a  believer  in  "the 
inner  light,"  an  uncommon  vitality  of  thought  and  style. 
Like  so  many  of  his  sect  in  its  early  days,  while  an  enemy 
of  war,  he  was  an  ardent  polemic  in  the  field  of  debate. 
He  shows  a  relish  for  "  the  joy  of  strife  " — the  gaudium 
certaminis — when  the  war  is  one  of  words.  He  is  most 
spirited  on  his  favorite  theme,  freedom  in  the  concerns 
of  religion. 

Penn's  connection  with  New  Jersey  naturally  suggested 
to  him  schemes  of  colonization  on  a  larger  scale.  In  these 
he  found  a  special  incentive  in  a  desire  to  provide  a  refuge 
for  his  persecuted  brethren.  After  the  death  of  Charles 
Grant  to  J-»  a  debt  of  £16,000,  which  the  crown  owed  to 
Penn.  Admiral  Penn,  was  discharged  by  a  grant  of  ter 
ritory  to  his  son.  The  charter,  which  was  signed  on  March 
4  (O.  S.),  1G81,  fixed  the  boundaries  of  Pennsylvania,  a 


PENNSYLVANIA   TO   1688 

name  which  Charles  II.,  desiring  to  honor  the  Admiral, 
insisted  on  attaching  to  the  region  defined  in  the  grant. 
It  included  three  degrees  of  latitude  and  five  degrees  of 
longitude  on  the  west  of  the  Delaware,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  a  district  about  Newcastle,  which  was  limited  by 
an  impossible  boundary.  As  we  have  already  stated,  a 
mistake  as  to  the  geographical  place  of  the  fortieth  par 
allel  was  made  in  the  stipulation.  Penn  claimed — what 
was  finally  adjudged  to  be  his — the  lands  on  the  Dela 
ware  which  had  been  settled  by  the  Dutch  and  the  Swedes. 
He  wanted  the  waters  and  shores  of  the  river  and  bay  of 
Delaware  to  the  ocean,  and  this  concession  he  obtained, 
in  1682,  from  the  Duke  of  York  by  deeds  of  enfeoffment. 
The  three  counties  of  Delaware,  or  "  the  territories,"  as 
Delaware,  in  distinction  from  the  Pennsylvania  grant, 
was  called,  were  thus  annexed  to  his  dominion,  but  held 
by  a  different  tenure. 

By  the  charter,  Penn,  as  Proprietary,  was  made  Gov 
ernor.  He  was  empowered  to  make  laws  with  '•'  the  ad 
vice,  assent,  and  approbation  of  the  Freemen  of  the  said 
countrey,  or  the  greater  parte  of  them,  or  of  Perm's  char- 
their  Delegates  or  Deputies."  A  transcript 
of  all  the  laws  was  to  be  submitted  to  the  Crown  for  ap 
proval  within  five  years  after  their  enactment.  If  within 
six  months  they  should  be  declared  inconsistent  with  the 
rights  of  the  sovereign  or  with  English  law,  they  were 
to  become  void.  Penn  was  authorized  to  appoint  subor 
dinate  officers,  including  "judges  and  justices,"  and  to 
grant  pardons.  But  appeals  to  the  sovereign  were  to  be 
in  all  cases  lawful.  No  taxes  or  imposts  of  any  sort  were 
to  be  assessed  on  the  people  except  with  the  consent  of 
the  Proprietary,  "  or  chiefe  governor  and  assembly,  or  by 
act  of  Parliament  in  England  ;  "  but  the  English  "  Lawes 
of  Trade  or  Navigation  "  were  to  be  inviolably  main 
tained.  Penn  was  obliged  to  agree  to  a  clause  providing 


202  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

that  on  the  petition  of  twenty  persons  a  preacher  or 
preachers  might  be  sent  out  for  their  instruction  "by  the 
Bishop  of  London,  and  that  they  should  be  permitted  to 
reside  in  the  province,  "  without  any  deniall  or  moles 
tation  whatever."  A  proclamation  of  the  King,  directed 
to  the  province,  declared  that  Penn  had  been  entrusted 
with  the  powers  of  government.  An  address  was  also 
issued  by  Penn  himself.  He  declared  that  the 

Penn's    ad 
dress.        Governor  would  not  aim  to  increase  his  own 

fortune,  and  had  an  "  honest  mind  to  do  uprightly." 
"  You  shall  be  governed,"  he  said,  "  by  laws  of  your  own 
making."  "  I  shall  not  usurp  the  right  of  any,  or  op 
press  his  person."  These  pledges  were  honorably  fulfilled. 

A  cousin  of  Penn,  William  Markham,  was  sent  out  as 
Deputy  Governor.  On  August  31,  1682,  Penn  in  person, 
Penn  oes  to  w^n  a  large  body  of  Quaker  colonists,  in  three 
his  province,  ships,  set  sail  for  his  province.  The  farewell 
letter  which  he  wrote  to  his  wife  and  children  is  full  of 
wisdom  and  tenderness.  Markham  had  sent  back  highly 
encouraging  reports  of  the  health  of  the  country,  of  its 
fertility,  and  of  the  abundance  of  game  found  there. 
Before  the  coming  of  Penn,  settlers,  some  of  them  Quak 
ers  from  Wales,  had  arrived  in  considerable  numbers. 
The  site  of  the  capital  had  been  chosen — the  peninsula 
between  the  Delaware  and  the  Schuylkill.  After  Penn's 
arrival,  Philadelphia  was  laid  out,  and  its  streets  marked 
out  in  the  rectangular  style.  At  Newcastle,  Penn  took 
formal  possession  of  Delaware,  and  then  passed  up  the 
river  to  Chester.  Before  leaving  England  he  had  drawn 
Penn's  con-  UP  the  sketch  of  a  constitution.  His  spirit 

stitution.  was  democratic.  "  Any  government,"  he  said, 
"is  free  to  the  people  under  it  (whatever  be  the  frame) 
where  the  laws  rule  the  people,  and  the  people  are  a 
party  to  these  laws ;  and  more  than  this  is  tyranny, 
oligarchy,  or  confusion.  .  .  .  Liberty  without  obedi- 


PENNSYLVANIA   TO   1688  203 

ence  is  confusion,  and  obedience  without  liberty  is  slav 
ery."  The  first  Assembly  met  at  Chester.  Penn,  in  con 
formity  to  his  purpose  to  include  the  Delaware  counties 
under  his  jurisdiction,  had  caused  them  to  send  to  it 
their  delegates.  At  this  Assembly,  Perm's  Frame  of  Gov 
ernment,  modified  in  some  particulars,  and  a  body  of  laws 
were  sanctioned.  It  was  provided  that  there  should  be  a 
Governor,  a  Provincial  Council,  and  an  Assembly  of  Free 
men.  Subsequently,  the  power  to  negative  laws  initiated 
by  the  Assembly  was  conceded  to  the  Governor.  Offices 
were  made  elective.  There  was  a  guaranty  of  religious 
freedom,  but  abstinence  from  labor  on  the  Sabbath  was 
required.  Murder  was  to  be  punished  with  death.  Ac 
cused  persons  were  to  be  tried  by  jury.  Indians  charged 
with  crime  were  to  have  the  same  right,  and  in  their  case 
half  of  the  jury  was  to  be  of  their  own  race.  Peacemak 
ers  were  to  be  chosen  in  the  several  counties  to  adjust 
differences  of  a  minor  character.  There  was  to  be  no  law 
of  primogeniture.  No  tax  was  to  be  levied  without  au 
thority  of  law.  Bevels,  bull-baiting,  cock-fighting,  stage- 
plays,  lotteries,  drunkenness,  duelling,  profane  swearing, 
and  "  health-drinking  "  were  forbidden.  The  care  of  the 
poor  and  the  humane  treatment  of  prisoners  were  pro 
vided  for.  It  was  ordained  that  the  laws  should  be  taught 
to  the  children  in  the  schools.  Certain  changes  at  the 
second  Assembly,  in  the  scheme  of  government,  called 
out  a  warm  protest  from  one  prominent  man,  Nicholas 
More.  In  later  times  they  were  sharply  criticised  by 
Franklin. 

The  just  and  benevolent  spirit  which  dictated  all  the 
proceedings  of  Penn  in  relation  to  the  colonists  was  con 
spicuous  in  his  dealings  with  the  Indians.  He  Treatment  Of 
won  their  confidence  by  himself  visiting  them  the  Indiacs. 
in  their  wigwams.  In  June,  1683,  he  held  a  conference 
with  leading  native  chiefs  at  Shackamaxon.  At  that  time 


204  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

he  made  a  considerable  purchase  of  land.  In  his  con 
tracts  with  the  natives  he  was  frank  and  fair.  Conse 
quently  they  trusted  him  and  loved  him.  It  is  true  that 
the  character  and  circumstances  of  the  neighboring  In 
dians  were  such  as  to  favor  the  establishment  of  friendly 
relations  with  them.  Yet  the  continued  amity  between 
the  two  races  was  owing,  in  no  small  degree,  to  the  equi 
table  policy  of  the  founder  of  the  colony. 

In  1683,   there  arrived  a  small  company  of  German 

Mennonites,    most    of    whom   were     linen-weavers.       A 

learned  young  lawyer  from  Germany,  Pasto- 

Emigration      .  v     -u  i  j  I  £   i  1  T     ,1 

to  Pennsyi-  mis,  who  belonged  to  a  class  of  devout  Luther 
ans  denominated  Pietists,  and  acted  in  part  as 
the  agent  of  a  Frankfort  Land  Company,  began  the  settle 
ment  of  Germantown.  In  conjunction  with  some  others, 
in  1688,  he  sent  to  the  Friends'  meeting  a  written  pro 
test  against  the  purchase  and  sale  of  slaves.  Penn  was 
unwearied  in  his  exertions  to  promote  the  advancement 
of  the  colony.  It  grew  more  rapidly  in  numbers  than 
any  other  colony  had  grown  except  Massachusetts.  In 
1685,  there  were  upwards  of  seven  thousand  inhabitants, 
somewhat  more  than  one-half  of  whom  were  of  English 
extraction.  Among  the  people  there  were  Dutch,  French, 
Scotch-Irish,  Finns,  and  Swedes.  At  the  end  of  a  year 
and  a  half  one  hundred  and  fifty  houses  had  been  built 
in  Philadelphia.  In  1684,  the  number  of  houses  had  risen 
to  three  hundred  and  fifty-seven.  In  1683,  a  school  was 
established  where  the  pupils  paid  moderate  fees  for  in 
struction.  A  brisk  trade  sprung  up.  There  was  a  begin 
ning  of  commerce  with  some  of  the  West  India  Islands. 
There  was  a  division  of  the  province  into  counties  and 
townships.  Early  in  1684,  Penn  could  say,  with  par 
donable  satisfaction  :  "  I  have  led  the  greatest  colony 
into  America  that  ever  any  man  did  upon  a  private  credit, 
and  the  most  prosperous  beginnings  that  ever  were  in 


TO   1688  205 

it  are  to  be  found  among  us."     Keligious  differences  had 
not  created  disturbance.    The  Swedes  had  their  own  wor 
ship.     The  Dutch  had  a  church  at  Newcastle. 
Quaker  meetings  had  been  held  as  early  as 
1675.      The  first  meeting  at  Philadelphia  was  held  in 
1683.      A  little   later   the   Baptists   began   to   establish 
churches. 

In  1684,  Penn  returned  to  England  to  advance  the  in 
terests  of  his  colony  there,  and  to  look  after  the  con 
test  respecting  boundaries  in  which  he  was  penn  in  Bag- 
engaged  with  Lord  Baltimore.  The  death  of  land- 
Charles  IT.  had  the  effect  to  increase  Penn's  influence  at 
Court.  James  IE.  did  not  forget  a  dying  request  of 
Admiral  Penn  that  he  would  befriend  his  son.  Penn 
approved  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence  by  the  King, 
which  the  most  discerning  Protestants  considered  as 
not  only  an  unconstitutional  stretch  of  the  royal  preroga 
tive,  but  also  as  an  element  in  a  plot  for  their  final 
reduction  under  the  authority  of  Rome.  It  should  be 
remarked  that  the  charges  of  base  conduct  which  were 
made  by  Macaulay  against  Penn  sprang  from  a  con 
founding  of  names,  and  are  without  foundation. 

In  Penn's  absence  the  colony  was  to  be  governed  by 
the  Council,  of  which  Thomas  Lloyd,  a  prudent  man,  was 
the  President.  Turbulent  scenes  soon  arose. 
The  Proprietary  system  began  to  be  unpopular,  a  nces  U  fn 
as  happened  in  the  other  colonies  where  it  was  Penneylvania- 
established.  The  Assembly  showed  signs  of  impatience 
under  feudal  rule,  and  embarked  in  various  schemes  of 
legislation  which  engendered  strife.  Nicholas  More,  the 
Chief  Justice,  was  impeached  on  the  charge  of  partiality 
and  violence,  and  was  expelled  from  the  Assembly,  of 
which  he  was  a  member.  By  order  of  the  Assembly,  Eob- 
inson,  the  clerk  of  the  Court,  wras  arrested  for  refusing  to 
produce  his  records.  The  Council  would  remove  neither 


206  THE   COLONIAL   EIIA 

of  them  from  office.  Penn  sent  over  an  earnest  remon 
strance,  occasioned  by  the  animosities  and  quarrels  that 
prevailed.  They  had  operated,  he  said,  to  prevent  emi 
gration.  His  own  quit-rents  were  left  unpaid,  and  only  a 
part  of  the  imposts  due  to  him  wras  collected.  The  giving 
of  executive  power  into  the  hands  of  five  members  of  the 
Council,  in  1686,  having  produced  little  change  for  the 
better,  Penn  appointed  Captain  John  Blackwell  Lieuten 
ant-Governor.  Blackwell  was  honest,  but  was  without 
tact,  quarrelled  both  with  the  Assembly  and  the  Council, 
and  withdrew  at  the  end  of  nine  months. 

A  contemporary  "Description  of  Pennsylvania  and  of  its 
Capital,"  printed  in  England  in  1698,  speaks  of  Philadel- 
Pennsvivania  phia  as  containing  many  "  stately  houses,  and 
described.  of  brick,"  "  several  fine  squares  and  courts." 
The  principal  streets,  writes  the  author,  take  their  names 
"  from  the  trees  that  formerly  grew  there."  "  It  hath  in 
it  three  fairs  every  3'ear,  and  two  markets  every  week." 
Between  the  principal  market-towns,  Chester  and  the 
others,  "  the  water-men  constantly  ply  their  wherries." 
There  is  a  "  great  and  extended  traffique  and  commerce  " 
with  the  other  colonies,  the  West  Indies,  and  Old  Eng 
land.  All  the  useful  trades  and  occupations  are  prose 
cuted.  "  Of  lawyers  and  physicians,"  says  the  narrator, 
"  I  shall  have  nothing  to  say,  because  the  country  is  very 
peaceable  and  healthy."  He  tells  us  that  there  are  sev 
eral  good  schools  of  learning  for  youth  in  Philadelphia. 
"  There  are  no  beggars  to  be  seen,  nor,  indeed,  have  any 
here  the  least  temptation  to  take  up  that  scandalous, 
lazy  life."  The  description  by  this  author,  who  had  re 
sided  in  the  colony  for  fifteen  years,  is  enthusiastic 
throughout,  but  rests  on  a  substantial  basis  of  fact. 


PART  II. 

FROM  THE  ENGLISH  REVOLUTION  OF  1688  TO 

1756 


CHAPTEK  XH. 

THE    EFFECT  ON  THE    COLONIES    OF  THE    REVOLUTION 

OF  1G88 

Result  of  the  Revolution  of  1688 — King  and  Parliament— The  Co 
lonial  Governments— Spirit  of  the  Colonial  Houses  of  Dele 
gates — Navigation  Laws — French  and  Indian  Wars — French 
Explorations— French  Claims  to  Louisiana — Movements  in  the 
Direction  of  Colonial  Union. 

THE  colonies,  which  had  impatiently  submitted  to  the 
tyranny  of  Charles  IL  and  James  LI.,  did  not  reap  all  the 
benefits  which  they  expected  from  the  Revo 
lution  that  raised  William  and  Mary  to  the  the  Kevoiu- 
throne.  It  is  true  that  they  were  delivered  * 
from  the  anxiety  which  they  had  felt,  in  common  with  the 
Protestants  in  England,  lest  the  insidious  exertions  of 
the  sovereign  to  establish  in  power  the  Eoman  Catholic 
religion  should  prove  successful.  Moreover,  the  fear  that 
the  Anglican  prelacy  might  extend  its  authority  over  the 
Puiitan  communities  on  this  side  of  the  ocean,  at  the 
cost  of  their  ecclesiastical  freedom,  was  now  dissipated. 
William  himself  was  a  Calvinist.  He  had  grown  up  in  a 
church  Presbyterian  in  its  polity.  The  doctrine  of  Tol- 


208  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

eration  was  so  far  legalized  at  the  Revolution  that  a  rea 
sonable  apprehension,  which  had  never  been  absent  since 
the  planting  of  New  England,  was  now  at  an  end.  The 
Bill  of  Rights,  the  great  charter  of  the  English  Revolu 
tion,  and  other  measures  which  followed  the  adoption  of 
it,  abridged  the  extent  and  defined  the  limits  of  regal 
authority.  The  King  was  no  longer  to  have  the  right  to 
suspend  laws,  or  the  execution  of  laws.  Standing  ar 
mies  in  time  of  peace,  without  consent  of  Parliament, 
were  made  illegal.  It  was  ordained  that  there  should  be 
frequent  meetings  of  Parliament.  It  was  settled  that  con 
trol  over  the  public  purse  should  rest  with  the  House 
of  Commons.  The  "  Civil  List "  was  established,  which 
was  made  up  mainly  from  the  hereditary  revenues  of 
the  Crown  ;  but  laws  for  taxation,  and  all  acts  for  the 
appropriation  of  money  for  carrying  forward  the  govern 
ment,  must  originate  in  the  Lower  House,  and  be  passed 
— if  passed  at  all — by  the  Lords  without  amendment. 
What  is  especially  noteworthy,  all  grants,  the  Civil  List, 
of  course,  excepted,  were  to  be  made  annually.  The 
House  of  Commons  was  rapidly  acquiring  the  complete 
predominance  which,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Hanove 
rian  rule,  made  the  ministers  of  the  monarch  its  agents, 
rising  to  power  and  falling  from  power  according  to  the 
will  of  the  dominant  party. 

The  colonial  governments  were  constituted  after  the 
pattern  of  the  government  of  the  mother-country.     There 

The  colonial  was  a  governor  in  Place  of  the  king— a  gover- 
governments.  nor  W]1O  was  appointed  in  the  royal  provinces 
by  him — a  Council,  answering  in  a  general  way  to  the  Up 
per  House  of  Parliament,  and  a  House  of  Representatives 
chosen  by  the  people,  corresponding  to  the  Commons  in 
England.  Whoever  studies  the  colonial  history  from 
this  date  cannot  fail  to  remark  the  constant  striving  of 
the  colonial  houses  of  delegates  to  limit  the  royal  power 


OF  THE   REVOLUTION   OF   1688  209 

and  to  control  public  affairs,  after  the  model  of  English 
precedents  as  they  were  shaped  by  the  Revolution.  But 
William  chafed  under  the  fetters  that  were  King  aud 
laid  upon  his  prerogative,  especially  when  he  Parliament, 
found  himself  embarrassed  by  them  in  the  prosecution 
of  the  great  contest  in  Europe  against  the  ambition  and 
aggressions  of  Louis  XIV.  In  this  protracted  conflict 
William's  heart  was  absorbed.  For  the  sake  of  the  un 
ion  that  was  effected  between  Holland  and  England,  and 
the  advantage  thus  gained  in  this  European  struggle,  he 
was  glad  to  accept  the  English  throne.  He  wanted  to 
wield  the  whole  strength  of  the  coalition  of  which  he  was 
the  head,  without  being  hindered  in  his  operations  by 
the  obstructive  or  dilatory  action  of  Parliament.  As  re 
gards  the  colonies,  it  was  not  in  his  thoughts  to  allow  to 
them  the  degree  of  independence  and  self-government 
which  belonged  to  Parliament  in  its  relation  to  the  Crown. 
The  king's  ministers  and  Parliament  were  in  agreement  on 
this  subject.  The  antagonism  that  almost  constantly  de 
veloped  itself  between  the  popular  branch  of  the  legisla 
ture  in  the  colonies,  which  was  bent  on  exer-  R0yai  gov. 
cising  a  large  measure  of  freedom,  and  the  cSonfai  &as- 
royal  governors  and  the  officials  in  England  to  semblies- 
whom  the  governors  were  responsible,  was  an  inevitable 
effect  of  the  opposite  ideas  entertained  by  the  respective 
factors  in  the  government.  A  chronic  source  of  discon 
tent  in  the  colonies  was  the  Navigation  Laws.  Navigation 
The  English  merchants  were  determined  to  Laws- 
keep  the  foreign  trade  of  the  colonies  exclusively  in  their 
own  hands.  These  laws  were  considered  by  the  colonists 
to  be  unjust  and  oppressive,  and  there  was  little  scruple 
about  evading  and  disregarding  them. 

Another  standing  topic  of  contention,  which  the  his 
tory  of  Massachusetts  perpetually  brings  before  us,  was 
the  demand,  kept  up  for  a  long  period,  and  the  deter- 


210  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

mined  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  local  legislature,  to  ap 
point  a  fixed  salary  for  the  Governor,  in  the  room  of 
Governors'  an  annual  appropriation,  the  amount  of  which 
ies*  varied  according  to  the  pleasure  of  the  deputies 
of  the  people.  The  motives  on  both  sides  were  mutually 
understood,  though  it  was  only  on  certain  occasions  that 
they  were  avowed.  The  Home  Government  aimed  to 
make  the  judgment  and  conduct  of  the  Governor  inde 
pendent  of  the  popular  will  ;  the  people  were  resolved 
not  to  surrender  the  influence  which  their  control  over 
the  emoluments  of  the  Governor  enabled  them  to  bring 
to  bear  upon  him.  Practically  the  exclusive  control  of 
the  local  legislature  in  the  whole  matter  of  domestic  tax 
ation  was  conceded.  Yet  the  English  laws  imposing 
duties  on  imports,  and  the  laws  relative  to  post-office  ar 
rangements,  when  these  laws  were  framed,  were  forms  of 
indirect  taxation.  One  who  reads  the  story  of  the 
bickerings  and  graver  disputes  between  the  Home  Gov 
ernment  and  the  colonies,  from  the  accession  of  William 
and  Mary  to  the  beginning  of  the  American  Revolution, 
might  naturally  imagine  that  the  colonies,  or 

Indepen-  J  .      . 

d  e  n  c  e  not  some  of  them,  were  consciously  aiming  all  the 
while  at  absolute  independence  of  the  mother- 
country.  This  accusation  has  often  been  made.  Yet  it 
is  wholly  untrue.  Franklin  told  Lord  Chatham,  in  1775, 
that  in  all  his  intercourse  with  all  sorts  of  people  in  the 
colonies,  he  had  never  heard  a  desire  to  separate  from 
England  expressed.  John  Adams's  testimony  is  of  the 
same  general  purport.  Such  proofs,  in  the  absence  of 
contradictory  evidence,  are  conclusive.  Minds  capable 
of  a  prophetic  glance  might  foresee  in  the  distant  future, 
as  the  result  of  a  natural  progress,  the  development  of 
an  American  empire.  Sir  Thomas  Browne  is  one  of  those 
who  predicted  such  an  event.  Bishop  Berkeley,  in  his 
verses  on  the  march  of  empire  westward,  may  have  had 


OF   THE   DEVOLUTION   OF   1688  211 

a  presentiment  of  it.  But  such  dreams,  if  they  existed 
at  all  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  are  something  quite 
different  from  a  practical  aim  or  wish  to  realize  them  by 
a  rupture  between  England  and  her  American  depend 
encies.  In  the  mother-country  it  was  often  honestly  felt 
and  openly  declared  that  the  colonies  were  prone  to  com 
plain  of  reasonable  laws  and  exactions,  and  showed  in 
gratitude  for  the  protection  afforded  them.  It  is  true 
that  they  owed  their  exemption  from  the  danger  of  being 
subjugated  by  other  European  powers  to  the  safeguard 
afforded  by  the  flag  of  England.  It  is  true  that  in  the 
repeated  and  prolonged  wars  with  Canada,  the  colonies 
were  aided  by  the  troops  and  ships  of  England.  But 
when  this  fact  was  brought  up,  it  was  replied  that  the 
colonies  were  strong  enough  to  cope  with  New  France, 
that  it  was  only  the  bringing  over  of  French  forces  from 
abroad  that  made  English  assistance  necessary,  and  that 
for  the  existence  of  these  intercolonial  wars  the  colo 
nies  were  not  responsible.  They  sprung  out  of  exigencies 
in  European  politics — out  of  wars  of  England  with  the 
continental  monarchies,  in  which  the  colonies  had  no 
special  concern. 

It  is  undeniable  that  the  effect  of  the  English  Kevolu- 
tion  was  to  plunge  the  colonies  into  costly  and  desolating 
conflicts  with  the  French  in  Canada  and  their  FrepCh  and 
Indian  allies.  Almost  ruinous  expenses  were  Indian  warf<- 
incurred,  and  terrible  sufferings  were  endured,  especially 
by  New  England  and  New  York,  where  border  ssttle- 
ments,  with  intervals  of  comparative  quiet,  for  the  greater 
part  of  a  century  were  exposed  to  the  murderous  inroads 
of  savage  foes,  instigated  and  directed  by  their 
white  superiors.  Shortly  after  the  accession  jam's  rwar, 
of  William,  England  declared  war  against 
France.  Such  a  war  of  necessity  included  a  struggle  be 
tween  the  rival  nations  for  dominion  in  the  New  World. 


212  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

This  contest,  the  first  in  the  series,  went  on  until  the 
Peace  of  Ryswick  in  1697.  Four  years  later,  the  second 
n,^,>r,  A™O>Q  war  commenced,  which  was  waged  for  twelve 

^llCCD.  AHTIG  S 

War,  1702-13.  years,  and  was  brought  to  an  end  by  the  Peace 
of  Utrecht  in  1713.  Hostilities  began  anew  in  1744,  and 
the  Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  1748,  by  which  they  wrere 
King  George's  clQsed,  was  little  more  than  a  truce.  The  be- 
War,  1T44-48.  ginnings  of  the  fourth  of  the  intercolonial  wars, 
a  war  of  seven  years,  which  led  to  the  English  conquest 
of  Canada,  fall  chronologically  within  the  compass  of  the 

present  volume.  But  the  border  warfare  of 
and6  iSu  the  colonies  with  the  French  and  Indians  was 

not  confined  within  the  limits  designated  above. 
It  often  preceded  or  extended  beyond  them.  Moreover, 
when  armed  incursions  on  one  side  and  the  other,  and 
midnight  massacres  by  stealthy  bands  of  savages  were, 
for  longer  or  shorter  periods,  suspended,  there  was  no  cer 
tainty  that  they  might  not  at  any  time  be  renewed.  There 
was  almost  unceasing  anxiety  and  the  need  of  continual 
vigilance  and  costly  preparations. 

The  great  obstacle  to  the  spread  of  New  France  to  the 
South  and  West  was  the  enmity  of  the  powerful  confed- 
French  e  x-  eracy  of  the  Iroquois,  or  Five  Nations,  to  which 
pioratiim.  were  added,  in  1713,  another  kindred  tribe, 
the  Tuscaroras  from  North  Carolina.  When  Louis  XIV. 
took  the  reins  of  administration  in  his  own  hand,  a  new 
activity  was  imparted  to  French  exploration.  Courcelles 
was  made  Governor  of  Canada,  and  the  Iroquois  for  a 
while  abstained  from  their  attacks.  The  Jesuits  and 
their  rivals,  the  Kecollets,  a  branch  of  the  Franciscan  or 
der,  were  intrepid  and  unwearied  in  planting  their  mis 
sionary  stations  along  the  borders  of  the  Great  Lakes. 
There  sprang  up  a  chain  of  French  forts  and  settlements 
as  far  as  the  site  of  St.  Louis,  on  the  Mississippi.  Fa 
ther  Marquette,  accompanied  by  Joliet,  a  trader,  and  five 


OF  THE   REVOLUTION   OF   1688  213 

other  Frenchmen,  sailed  down  the  Wisconsin,  entered  the 
great  river,  and  descended  it  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the 
Arkansas.  They  returned  by  the  Illinois  to  Chicago,  and 
to  Green  Bay  by  crossing  Lake  Michigan.  In  1680,  the 
companions  of  La  Salle  ascended  the  Missis- 
sippi  to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  La  Salle 
himself,  who  had  built  a  fort,  which  he  called  St.  Louis, 
and  given  to  the  country  on  the  banks  of  the  Missis 
sippi  the  name  of  Louisiana,  in  honor  of  the  King  of 
France,  afterward,  in  1682,  descended  the  river  to  the 
Gulf.  Furnished  with  a  frigate  and  three  other  vessels, 
he  sailed  from  France  in  1684,  but  missed  the  entrance  to 
the  Mississippi,  and  landed  somewhere  in  Texas.  Fail 
ing  in  his  search  for  the  river  by  exploring  the  country 
about  him,  he  set  out  to  return  to  Canada  by  land,  but  at 
the  end  of  three  months  he  was  murdered  by  two  of  his 
own  men.  The  men  who  were  left  at  St.  Louis  perished. 
The  expeditions  of  La  Salle  furnished  the  basis  of  the 
French  claim  to  the  whole  vast  region  called  by  them 
Louisiana.  After  the  Peace  of  Eyswick,  Dlb-  Freilch  claim 
erville,  a  Canadian,  was  put  in  charge  of  an  to  Louisiana, 
expedition  for  establishing  a  settlement  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi.  In  1696,  he  passed  a  fort  which  the 
Spanish  had  erected  three  years  before,  on  the  bay  of 
Pensacola,  and  succeeded  in  planting  a  company  of  set 
tlers  on  the  shores  of  Biloxi.  Most  of  them  removed,  in 
1702,  to  Mobile,  on  the  bay  of  the  same  name,  where  they 
formed  the  first  settlement  within  the  present  borders  of 
Alabama.  In  an  interval  of  peace  with  the  Iroquois,  a 
fort  and  settlement  were  established  at  Detroit.  French 
villages  were  planted  between  the  mouths  of  the  Ohio  and 
the  Illinois.  Meantime  the  French  abandoned  none  of 
their  claims  in  the  East.  They  claimed  an  exclusive  right 
to  fish  on  the  coast  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec. 
Among  the  Norridgewocks  on  the  Upper  Kennebec  they 


214  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

founded  a  missionary  station,  which  was  under  the  charge 
of  the  educated  and  accomplished  Jesuit  priest,  Sebastian 
Easles.  He  gained  such  an  ascendency  that  the  tribe  was 
devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  French.  Such,  in  brief, 
were  the  pretensions  of  France  as  regards  America  in  the 
early  years  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  numbers  and 
resources  Canada  was  much  weaker  than  the  English 
colonies.  Much  depended  on  the  amount  of  aid  that 
might  be  derived  from  France.  The  long  English  bor 
der,  with  its  scattered  settlements,  furnished  the  Cana 
dians  with  great  advantages  for  the  sudden  incursions 
which  it  was  impossible  to  foresee,  and  which  carried  de 
vastation  and  slaughter  into  so  many  peaceful  hamlets.  It 
Reasons  for  was  a  v^a^  ma^ter  with  the  colonists  to  be  united 
colonial  uu-  in  using  their  means  of  resistance,  and  in  de 
vising  plans  of  attack.  Movements  in  the  di 
rection  of  political  union  it  was  therefore  the  interest  of 
both  the  English  government  and  its  American  subjects 
to  promote.  On  the  other  hand,  the  colonies  had  to 
guard  against  schemes  of  union  or  consolidation  which 
would  involve  the  loss  of  that  self-government  which  they 
so  dearly  prized,  and  bind  upon  them  more  strongly  the 
fetters  of  commercial  servitude  under  which  they  chafed. 
Besides,  there  was  a  great  deal  in  the  slowness  of  inter 
course  between  the  several  colonies,  and  the  tenacity  of 
local  ideas  and  aims,  that  tended  to  keep  them  apart. 
Yet  it  was,  in  fact,  the  situation  in  reference  to  New 
France  that  gave  rise  to  a  series  of  conventions  in  which 
governors  or  commissioners  from  a  larger  or  smaller  num 
ber  of  colonies  assembled  for  consultation  and  to  arrange 
for  combined  action.  Such  congresses,  having  for  their 
special  business  treaty  arrangements  with  the  Iroquois, 
met  at  Albany  in  1684,  in  1694,  in  1711,  in  1722,  in  1748, 
and  in  1751 ;  and  a  like  congress  of  commissioners  from 
Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania,  met  at  Lancaster, 


OF  THE   REVOLUTION   OF   1688  215 

Pennsylvania,  in  1744.  In  1709,  a  convention  of  several 
governors  was  held  at  New  London,  to  consult  in  refer 
ence  to  a  proposed  expedition  to  Canada.  A  convention 
for  the  same  object  assembled  at  the  same  place  in  1711. 
More  significant  than  previous  assemblages  of  this  kind 
was  the  congress  that  met  at  Albany  in  1754,  in  which 
Franklin  was  the  leading  spirit;  and  which  was  intended 
not  only  to  unite  the  Five  Nations  in  closer  bonds  of 
amity  with  the  English,  but  also  to  form  "articles  of 
union  and  confederation  with  each  other  for  the  mutual 
defence  of  his  Majesty's  subjects  and  interests  in  North 
America,  as  well  in  time  of  peace  as  war."  The  commis 
sioners  were  chosen  by  the  Assemblies  of  the  colonies 
that  were  represented.  In  the  history  of  this  convention, 
as  elsewhere,  it  is  evident  how  the  sense  of  the  necessity 
of  union  for  common  defence,  and  for  devising  and  carry 
ing  out  effective  measures  for  repelling  the  enemy  and  for 
the  conquest  of  Canada,  wras  qualified  by  the  risk  to  local 
liberty,  and  the  danger  of  an  increased  measure  of  sub 
jection  to  England,  which  it  was  felt  that  the  schemes  of 
confederation  involved. 


CHAPTEK 

NEW   ENGLAND   FROM    16S8   TO    1756 

Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations — French  and  Indian  Attacks — Un 
successful  Attempt  on  Canada — Massachusetts  Fails  to  Regain 
her  Charter — The  New  Charter  of  Massachusetts— The  Witch 
craft  Delusion — The  Government  of  Phips — Bellomont — In 
roads  of  French  and  Indians — Separation  of  New  Hampshire 
from  Massachusetts — Rhode  Island  under  Bellomont— Dudley 
— Queen  Anne's  War— Rhode  Island  under  Dudley — Connect 
icut —  Shute  —  Explanatory  Charter  of  Massachusetts  —  New 
Hampshire  and  Connecticut — The"  Great  Revival" — Belcher 
— Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  —  Burnet  —  Shirley — Renew 
al  of  Hostilities  with  France  —  Capture  of  Louishurg  —  The 
Albany  Congress — Military  Expeditions — New  Hampshire  and 
Connecticut. 

THE  revolution  in  Massachusetts  which  followed  upon 
the  news  of  the  revolution  in  England,  left  that  colony 
without  a  legal  government.  Although  the  charters  of 
Connecticut  and  Ehode  Island  had  been  given  up,  they 
had  not  been  annulled  by  a  judicial  decree.  But  the 
charter  of  Massachusetts  had  been  vacated  by  the  verdict 
of  the  English  courts.  It  was  entirely  uncertain  whether 
it  would  be  restored  b}T  a  new  royal  grant.  In  England, 
a  new  impetus  was  given  to  the  commercial  interest  by 
the  accession  of  William  and  Mary.  A  fresh  zeal  was 
consequently  awakened  in  behalf  of  the  en- 
Tradcf  and  forcement  of  the  Navigation  Laws.  One  con- 
Pjantations.  sequence  was  the  committing  of  the  whole 
management  of  colonial  affairs  to  a  new  "Board  of  Trade 
and  Plantations,"  composed  of  fifteen  members.  In  the 


NEW   ENGLAND   FROM    1688   TO    175G  217 

ample  list  of  their  powers  was  included  the  authority  and 
the  duty  "  to  scrutinize  the  acts  of  colonial  legislatures." 

While  political  affairs  in  the  northern  colonies  were  in 
an  unsettled  state,  there  was  a  neglect  to  make  adequate 
preparation  for  the  renewed  contest  with  the  French. 
Three  months  after  the  accession  of  William,  England  de 
clared  war  against  France.  Early  in  1689,  Frontenac,  an 
able  and  energetic  man,  was  for  the  second 
time  made  Governor  of  New  France.  He  pro 
ceeded  to  organize  three  expeditions  against  the  English 
settlements.  One  of  them,  consisting,  as  usual,  of  French 
and  Indians,  surprised  the  village  of  Schenec- 
tady  by  night.  There  ensued  a  massacre 
Winch  lasted  for  two  hours.  Sixty  persons,  of  tack8' 
all  ages  and  both  sexes,  were  killed.  Thirty  persons  were 
carried  off  as  captives.  All  the  houses  but  two  were 
burned.  Another  attack,  attended  with  like  horrors,  was 
made  on  the  village  of  Salmon  Falls,  in  Dover.  A  third 
party  made  its  way  from  Quebec  to  Casco  Bay,  in  Maine, 
and  captured  the  garrison  of  the  fort  there.  A  little 
later  an  assault  was  made  upon  Exeter,  where  a  consid 
erable  number  of  persons  were  killed.  An  expedition 
from  Massachusetts,  under  the  command  of  Sir  William 
Phips,  in  eight  small  vessels,  captured  Port  Royal,  in 
Acadia,  and  demolished  the  French  fort  at  thVmouth  of 
the  ixt-John's  River. 

Delegates  from  the  colonies  of  Massachusetts,  Plymouth, 
Connecticut,  and  New  York  met.  at  New  York,  on  May  1, 
1G90,  to  concert  measures  against  the  enemy.  A  plan  for 
the  conquest  of  New  France  was  one  of  the 

,;• —     .,    .,  Unsnccesp- 

results  of  the  conference.     On  August  9th,  a   f"]    attempt 
fleet  of  thirty-two  vessels,  containing  two  thou 
sand  men,  sailed  from  Nantasket,  near  Boston,  to  make 
an  attack  on  Quebec.     A  simultaneous  attack  was  to  be 
made  on  Montreal  by  a  body  of  troops  from  Connecticut 


218  THE    COLONIAL   ETCA 

and  New  York,  in  conjunction  with  a  force  of  Iroquois 
Indians.  This  overland  expedition  unhappily  proved  a 
failure.  Owing  to  a  variety  of  hindrances  it  advanced 
no  farther  than  Lake  Cham  plain.  Finding  Montreal  re 
leased  from  peril,  Erontenac  hastened  back  from  that 
place  to  Quebec,  and  reinforcements  for  his  troops  then 
followed  him.  Small-pox  broke  out  among  the  crews  of 
the  colonial  ships,  the  ships  were  damaged  by  tempestu 
ous  weather,  and  Phips  was  compelled  to  return  without 
accomplishing  anything,  and  with  a  loss  of  about  a  thou- 

issueofpa-  sand  men.  One  of  the  worst  incidents  of  this 
SiassTchu1-  unsuccessful  attempt  at  conquest  was  the  issue 
by  Massachusetts  of  paper  money,  in  the  shape 
of  bills  of  credit,  for  the  payment  of  the  soldiers.  They 
soon  fell  to  two-thirds  of  their  nominal  value.  This  was 
one  of  a  series  of  legislative  measures  of  the  same  kind, 
which  deranged  the  business  of  the  colony,  and  drove  its 
government  to  the  verge  of  bankruptcy.  It  must  be  said 
that  the  authorities  in  England,  and  their  official  repre 
sentatives  in  the  colony,  set  themselves  in  opposition  to 
these  mistaken  and  ruinous  measures,  put  a  check  upon 
them,  and  finally  did  much  to  put  an  end  to  them. 

Massachusetts  was  anxious  for  the  restoration  of  her 
charter.  It  had  been  hoped  that,  if  the  Canadian  expe- 

Maesachu-  dition  were  successful,  a  favorable  impression 
reeainailh  e  r  wou^  ^e  produced  in  England.  This  hope, 
charter.  of  course,  was  frustrated.  The  agent  of  the 
colony  in  London,  Increase  Mather,  was  the  leading  min 
ister  of  the  colony  and  President  of  the  College.  Two 
others  were  now  associated  with  him,  Elisha  Cooke  and 
Thomas  Oakes.  No  efforts  were  spared  by  these  com 
missioners  to  secure  favorable  action.  A  bill  for  the 
restoration  of  charters,  in  which  New  England  was  ex 
pressly  included,  passed  the  Commons,  but  Parliament 
was  prorogued  before  it  reached  the  Lords.  The  Gen- 


NEW   ENGLAND   FROM    1688   TO    1756  219 

eral  Court  in  Massachusetts,  as  a  conciliator}-  measure, 
opened  a  little  wider  the  door  to  citizenship.  But  as 
time  went  on,  the  adverse  party  in  London  grew  stronger. 
There  had  come  to  exist  in  Massachusetts  itself  a  minor 
ity,  in  which  were  included  a  portion  at  least  of  the  later 
and  more  wealthy  immigrants,  that  did  not  care  to  see 
the  old  system  of  rule  re-established,  and  was  willing  to 
leave  affairs  more  under  foreign  direction.  Andros  and 
his  fellow-captives,  on  their  arrival  in  England,  did  their 
best  to  deepen  and  extend  the  existing  prejudices  against 
the  colon}'.  Katcliffe,  the  Episcopal  clergyman,  who  had 
also  returned  to  England,  lent  what  help  he  could  in  the 
same  direction.  The  mercantile  class  were  decidedly 
averse  to  the  colonial  freedom  that  involved  danger  to 
their  monopoly.  The  King  himself  was  not  of  a  mind 
to  lessen  his  prerogatives.  At  length,  late  in  The  n  e  w 
1691,  it  was  settled  that  there  should  be  a  new  ^sabr*ecrh£ 
charter  for  the  province  of  "Massachusetts  8etts- 
Bay."  Plymouth  colony  was  included  in  the  charter,  and 
from  this  time  ceased  to  exist  as  a  distinct  community. 
The  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  Secretary  were 
to  be  appointed  by  the  King.  In  the  Lower  House  two 
deputies  were  to  sit  from  each  town.  The  Council,  the  up 
per  branch  of  the  Legislature,  was  to  be  appointed  from 
year  to  year  by  the  General  Court,  subject  to  the  Gover 
nor's  approval.  The  Governor  might  reject  the  bills  passed 
by  the  Legislature.  The  King,  also,  at  any  time  within 
three  years,  might  annul  such  enactments.  Courts  of 
Admiralty  were  to  be  constituted  by  the  Crown,  and  to 
try  cases  without  a  jury.  Other  courts — except  Probate 
Courts,  which  were  to  be  constituted  by  the  Governor 
and  Council — were  to  be  established  by  the  General 
Court.  A  provision  was  made  for  appeals  in  certain 
cases  to  the  King  in  Council.  The  religious  qualification 
for  voters  was  no  longer  to  continue.  A  property  qualifi- 


220  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

cation  was  substituted  for  it.  This  was  a  very  important 
feature  of  the  new  charter.  To  the  General  Court  was 
given  the  right  to  impose  and  levy  taxes.  This  provision, 
with  the  right  conferred  on  the  Court  —  where  the  rep 
resentatives  would  form  the  majority  —  to  nominate  the 
members  of  the  Council,  were  the  two  features  of  the 
charter  in  which  the  friends  of  popular  rights  had  most 
reason  to  rejoice.  The  agents  of  the  colony  in  England, 
and  the  people  of  the  colony,  had  to  bear  the  disappoint 
ment  which  their  inability  to  recover  the  old  charter  in 
flicted.  To  Mather  was  given  the  privilege  of  naming 
Phi  s  a  ^e  new  on^cers  to  be  appointed  by  the  Crown. 
pointed  GOV-  At  his  request,  Sir  William  Phips  was  made 

emor. 

Governor.      The  old  charters  of   Connecticut 
and  Rhode  Island  were  left  untouched. 

When  Phips  arrived  in  the  Province  which  he  was  to 
govern,  he  found  the  people  in  the  midst  of  the  excite 

ment   occasioned  b     the  witchcraft  delusion. 


craft6  chju-  The  reality  of  witchcraft,  or  of  wicked  leagues 
made  by  human  souls  with  Satan,  was  still 
generally  accepted,  and  the  supposed  crime  was  con 
demned  in  the  legislation  of  all  Christian  countries.  So 
great  a  judge  as  Sir  Matthew  Hale,  and  a  divine  so  kindly 
and  intelligent  as  Richard  Baxter,  had  no  doubts  on  the 
subject.  With  the  dawn  of  the  eighteenth  century,  this 
old  faith  began  to  fade  ;  yet  later  than  the  middle  of  the 
century  another  most  eminent  jurist,  Blackstone,  and 
another  famous  divine,  John  Wesley,  are  among  those 
who  lent  it  an  undoubting  sanction.  The  date  of  the 
beginning  of  the  troubles  in  Massachusetts  on  this  sub 
ject  was  four  years  earlier  than  the  arrival  of  Phips,  in 
the  last  year  of  the  rule  of  Andros.  Several  children  in 
Boston  professed  to  be  "  bewitched."  Increase  Mather, 
some  years  before,  had  touched  on  the  subject  of  witch 
craft  in  a  book  which  he  had  written.  Now  his  son,  Cot- 


KE\V   ENGLAND   FROM   1688   TO   1756  221 

ton  Mather,  a  minister  only  less  prominent  than  his 
father,  interested  himself  in  these  strange  phenomena. 
Cotton  Mather  was  a  man  of  restless  temper-  Cotton  Ma_ 
ment,  credulous,  and  fond  of  praise.  But  the  ther- 
part  which  he  took  in  the  witchcraft  proceedings  has 
been  sometimes  overstated.  If  he  was  superstitious 
he  was  not  cruel.  It  ought  to  be  remembered  to  his 
credit  that  when  inoculation  was  first  introduced  into 
Boston,  he  stood  by  Dr.  Boylston  against  most  of  the 
medical  faculty,  favored  the  new  remedy,  and  braved 
public  opinion,  even  when  the  mob  threatened  to  attack 
his  dwelling.  Cotton  Mather's  "  Essays  to  do  Good  " 
was  one  of  the  books  to  which  Benjamin  Franklin  was  dis 
posed  to  ascribe  much  of  the  usefulness  of  his  subsequent 
life.  Several  years  elapsed  before  the  witchcraft  prose 
cutions  began  in  Salem,  where  Parris,  a  minister  in  a 
part  of  the  town  which  was  afterward  called  Danvers,  was 
most  active  in  fomenting  the  delusion.  Not  less  than  a 
hundred  persons  accused  of  witchcraft  were  in  jail  at 
the  time  when  Phips  assumed  his  office.  He  constituted 
a  Special  Court  to  try  the  cases.  It  consisted  of  seven 
magistrates,  with  Stoughton,  a  man  of  narrow  mind, 
honest,  fanatical,  and  of  inflexible  obstinacy,  at  its  head. 
Accusations  were  made  against  persons  in  other  towns 
besides  Salem.  Among  the  accused  who  suffered  death 
by  the  sentence  of  the  newly  created  tribunal  was  one 
respectable  minister,  and  other  persons  hitherto  held 
in  esteem  by  their  neighbors.  Not  a  few,  bewildered  by 
the  pressure  of  accusation  and  by  testimony  which  they 
knew  not  how  to  rebut,  or  seeing  no  other  way  to  save 
their  lives,  confessed  themselves  guilty.  Subsequently, 
when  the  time  of  danger  was  past,  confessions  thus  made 
were  retracted.  By  the  time  that  the  General  Court 
assembled,  which  was  in  October,  the  sway  of  the  delusion 
was  broken.  Twenty  innocent  persons  had  been  sacri- 


222  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

ficed.  Charges  had  begun  to  be  made  against  persona 
of  high  social  standing,  and  of  unblemished  reputation. 
The  community  was  appalled,  and  the  conviction  spread 
that  there  must  be  a  mistake  at  the  root  of  these  shocking 
transactions.  The  Special  Court  was  superseded,  and  a 
regular  tribunal  constituted  in  its  place.  After  this  time, 
the  few  who  were  found  guilty  were  pardoned.  A  few 
years  later,  a  General  Fast  was  appointed  in 

Repentance.      .,  ,  „        , ,  .    .          . .   , 

the  colony,  for  the  errors  into  which  magis 
trates  and  people  had  been  betrayed  "  by  Satan  and  his 
instruments  "  in  the  recent  "  tragedy,"  as  it  was  termed. 
On  that  day  Sewall,  who  had  sat  as  one  of  the  judges 
with  Stoughton,  and  was  afterward  Chief  Justice  of  the 
colony,  arose  in  his  pew  in  the  Old  South  Church,  and 
stood  while  the  minister  read  from  the  pulpit  the  con 
fession  which  he  had  framed  of  his  own  accord,  and  in 
which  he  acknowledged  and  deplored  the  sin  of  ignorance 
that  he  had  committed  in  connection  with  the  witchcraft 
trials.  There  are  few  more  impressive  and  characteristic 
scenes  in  Puritan  history  than  the  spectacle  of  this  con 
scientious  and  upright  man  standing  before  the  congre 
gation,  with  bowed  head,  and  making  public  confession 
of  errors  into  which  he  had  unwittingly  fallen. 

Phips  was  a  native  of  Maine.  He  was  of  a  family  of 
twenty-six  children  by  the  same  mother,  twenty-one  of 
The  ov  wnom  were  sons.  Having  been  apprenticed  by 
ernment  of  his  father,  who  was  a  gunsmith,  to  a  ship  car 
penter,  he  became  a  seaman.  He  formed  and 
successfully  carried  out  a  plan  for  fishing  up  a  Spanish 
vessel;  loaded  with  treasure,  which  had  been  wrecked 
on  the  coast  of  Hispaniola.  He  conveyed  the  plate  and 
jewels  to  England,  and  divided  the  spoil  liberally  with 
the  participants  in  the  enterprise.  For  this  achievement 
he  was  knighted.  Phips  was  an  honest  friend  of  the 
colony,  but  was  a  man  of  moderate  capacity  and  of  a 


NEW   ENGLAND   FROM   1688  TO   1756  223 

hasty  temper.  He  knocked  down  in  the  street,  and  beat 
with  a  cane,  one  Short,  the  captain  of  a  frigate  who  had 
made  a  great  commotion  by  undertaking  to  impress  sea 
men.  He  had  a  quarrel  with  Brenton,  who  had  been  ap 
pointed,  against  the  will  of  the  merchants,  Collector  of 
the  port  of  Boston.  Phips  was  summoned  to  England. 
There  he  continued  to  be  held  in  esteem,  but  before  it 
could  be  decided  whether  he  should  resume  his  office, 
he  died.  There  was  no  end  to  the  depredations  of  the 
French  and  Indians.  In  1694,  Castine  was  Inroa<js  of 
captured,  and  a  part  of  the  English  captives  J|Jg^  and 
were  slain.  On  March  15,  1697,  the  savages 
made  an  attack  upon  Haverhill.  Among  their  captives 
was  Hannah  Dustin.  The  savages  dashed  out  the 
brains  of  her  infant,  a  week  old.  When  far  on  their  way 
to  Canada,  she,  with  her  nurse  and  an  English  boy,  in  the 
night,  when  her  keepers  were  sound  asleep,  slew  them 
with  their  own  hatchets,  and  with  her  companions  made 
her  escape.  It  was  estimated  that  in  the  ten  years  prior 
to  the  peace  of  Eyswick,  more  than  seven  hundred  Eng 
lishmen  had  been  killed,  and  more  than  two  hundred  car 
ried  off  into  captivity. 

In  1697,  Bellomont,  an  Earl  in  the  Irish  peerage,  was 
appointed  Governor  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  Massa 
chusetts  and  New  Hampshire.  He  was  made 

.      .,    ,.  Bellomont. 

commander  of  the  forces  of  all  the  colonies. 
It  was  felt  in  England  that  energetic  measures  must  be 
taken  to  suppress  piracy,  and  to  unite  the  colonies  for 
effective   action    against   France.      Bellomont 
was  manly  and  generous,  although  of  a  chol 
eric  temper.     Privateering,  which  had  flourished  during- 
the  contest  with  France,  easily  ran  into  piratical  depreda 
tions,  and  the  seas  were  infested  with  lawless  freebooters. 
Bellomont  succeeded  in   seizing  the  person  of  Captain 
Kidd,  who,  having  been  entrusted  with  a  commission  to 


224  THE  COLONIAL   EKA 

capture  piratical  vessels,  had  turned  pirate  himself.  He 
was  sent  to  England,  where  he  was  condemned  and  exe 
cuted.  To  secure  the  collection  of  customs,  Randolph 
was  appointed,  in  1698,  Surveyor-General  in  the  north 
ern  ports  of  America.  About  the  same  time,  a  law  was 
passed  in  England  which  prohibited  not  only  the  ex 
portation  of  wool,  and  everything  made  of  wool,  to  for 
eign  countries  from  the  colonies,  but  also  the  transporta 
tion  of  these  articles  from  one  colony  to  another. 

It  was  the  policy  of  English  statesmen  to  weaken, 
rather  than  increase,  the  power  and  influence  of  Mas- 
New  Hamp-  sachusetts.  In  1692,  New  Hampshire  became 
ldf?o8mPMa8-  a  separate  colony.  Samuel  Allen,  who  had 
sachusetts.  bought  the  claims  of  Mason,  was  appointed 
Governor,  with  Usher,  his  son-in-law,  to  rule  in  his  ab 
sence  as  Lieutenant-Governor.  Nothing  but  the  courage 
of  ths  colonists  and  their  unconquerable  perseverance, 
enabled  them  to  hold  their  ground  under  the  continual 
assaults  of  their  Indian  foes.  "Usher  had  a  contest  with 
the  people  on  the  titles  to  the  lands,  and  a  quarrel  with 
the  Massachusetts  Governor,  Phips.  Usher  had  made 
up  his  mind  to  lay  down  his  office  ;  but  when  Partridge, 
his  successor,  arrived,  he  changed  his  purpose.  The 
Board  of  Trade  sustained  Partridge,  who,  in  1699,  be 
came  the  Lieutenant-Governor  under  Bellomont.  The 
question  of  the  land-claims  was  at  length  referred  to  the 
English  authorities  in  England.  Usher  was  the  advocate 
of  Allen's  claims,  and  William  Vaughan,  a  man  highly  es 
teemed,  represented  the  colony. 

In  Rhode  Island,  Samuel  Cranston,  who  was  first 
chosen  Governor  in  1697,  continued  in  office  for  thirty 
Rhode  isi-  years.  There  was  a  contest  with  Phips  on 
Bellomont.  the  subject  of  the  command  of  the  Rhode  Isl 
and  militia,  which  had  been  given  to  him  in  his  commis 
sion.  Bellomont  was  extremely  dissatisfied  with  Rhode 


NEW   ENGLAND   FROM   1688  TO   1756  225 

Island  because  of  the  shelter  offered  to  pirates  in  Narra- 
gansett  Bay.  In  his  letters  to  England  he  denounced  in 
the  strongest  language  the  weakness  of  the  government 
there,  the  disregard  of  law,  and  the  general  ignorance 
and  disorder  of  the  people. 

The  successor  of  Bellomont  was  Joseph  Dudley.  Af 
ter  his  departure  from  Massachusetts  he  had  held  for  a 
time  the  office  of  Chief  Justice  in  New  York. 
Having  returned  to  New  York,  he  was  exceed 
ingly  desirous  of  gaining  the  appointment  of  Governor 
in  his  native  colony,  where  he  had  been  for  five  months  a 
prisoner.  He  was  able  and  industrious,  and  obtained 
the  support  of  the  dissenting  interest  in  England.  Even 
the  Mathers  favored  his  appointment.  He  received  his 
commission  from  Queen  Anne,  and  arrived  in  Boston  in 
1702.  He  held  the  office  for  thirteen  years.  During  the 
greater  part  of  this  time,  he  was  engaged  in  a  contest 
with  the  General  Court,  or  with  the  lower  branch  of  it. 
He  persisted  in  his  demand,  which  with  equal  constancy 
was  refused,  that  he  should  have  a  stated  salary.  He  re 
quired,  but  without  success,  the  rebuilding  of  the  Pem- 
aquid  fort  in  Maine.  He  obstructed  the  House  in  the 
choice  of  a  Speaker.  On  the  accession  of  Anne  the  war 
with  France  was  renewed,  and  there  followed  another 
long  series  of  Indian  attacks  upon  the  border  settlements 
of  New  England.  A  signal  example  of  these  Indian  atro. 
atrocities,  and  yet  but  one  among  many,  was  dties- 
the  assault  upon  Deerneld  in  the  winter  of  1704,  when  six 
ty  persons  were  killed,  and  one  hundred,  including  the 
minister  with  his  wife,  were  led  off  as  captives  through 
the  snows  to  Canada.  The  wife  fell  on  the  way,  from 
physical  weakness,  and  was  killed  by  an  Indian's  hatchet. 
An  expedition  under  Colonel  March  for  the  capture  of 
Port  Royal,  which  was  organized  by  Dudley  in  1707,  and 
consisted  of  a  thousand  men,  proved  a  failure.  Three 
13 


Opposition  to 
Dudley. 


226  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

years  later  a  force  of  New  ED  gland  troops,  aided  by  a 
regiment  of  royal  marines,  captured  that  place.  The 
Abortive  next  Jear>  another  great  expedition,  led  by 
SSnef'can-  Hill,  an  incompetent  English  commander — an 
ada.  expedition  which  cost  Massachusetts  a  great 

outlay  of  men  and  money — suffered  such  disasters  on 
the  St.  Lawrence  as  to  prevent  it  from  reaching  Quebec, 
while  the  force  that  was  simultaneously  to  operate 
against  Montreal  could  do  nothing  more  than  to  effect 
a  safe  retreat.  The  opposition  to  Dudley  in  Massa 
chusetts  was  led  by  an  able  advocate  of  pop- 
ular  rights,  Elisha  Cooke.  The  Mathers  be 
came  extremely  hostile  to  the  Governor.  This  was 
largely  owing  to  disputes  relating  to  the  College,  in 
which  he  withstood  them,  and  the  outcome  of  which  was 
the  overthrow  of  their  ascendency.  In  various  ways  it 
appeared  that  the  ancient  authority  of  the  clergy  was  de 
clining.  In  1709,  Dudley  reported  that  when  he  arrived 
the  colony  contained  fifty  thousand  inhabitants.  In  1710, 
an  Act  of  Parliament  established  a  General  Post- Office 
"in  all  her  Majesty's  dominions  "  in  America.  Some  ar 
rangements  had  previously  been  made,  at  different  times, 
for  the  carrying  of  letters.  Among  the  devices  occa 
sioned  by  the  disordered  state  of  the  currency  was  a 
project  for  a  "  Private  Bank  "  whose  bills  of  credit  were 
to  be  based  on  mortgages  of  real  estate.  This  futile 
scheme  was  crushed,  not  without  considerable  loss  to  its 
contrivers. 

In  New  Hampshire  a  stated  salary  was  granted  to 
Dudley.  He  found  it  hopeless,  however,  to  procure  obe- 
New  Hamp-  dience  to  the  laws  regulating  trade.  Usher 
shire.  became  Lieutenant  -  Governor  in  1704.  The 
Mason  claims  continued  to  be  a  subject  of  angry  conten 
tion  and  of  litigation.  A  liberal  offer  was  made  by  the 
province  for  the  settlement  of  them,  but  Allen,  in  whose 


NEW   ENGLAND   FROM    1G88  TO    1756  221 

han&s  they  were  held,  died  before  it  could  be  accepted. 
After  the  death  of  his  son,  which  followed,  no  further  at 
tempts  were  made  to  enforce  the  claims,  and  the  people 
were  left  to  possess  their  farms  in  peace.  Usher  was  at 
variance  both  with  the  New  Hampshire  colonists  and 
with  Dudley*.  When  Dudley  left  his  office,  he  was  dis 
placed. 

Rhode  Island  had  the  same  troubles  under  Dudley  as 
under  Bellomont,  respecting  the  suppression  of  piracy 
and  the  command  of  the  militia.  He  styled 

, ,  ,          .  ,       .          Rhode  Isl- 

the  province  "a  receptacle  of  rogues  and  pi-  and  under 
rates."  There  was  complaint  in  Massachusetts  I 
that  Rhode  Island  did  not  do  her  part  in  the  struggle 
with  the  Indians.  But  as  the  war  went  on,  the  contribu 
tion  of  troops  from  that  province  became  more  regular. 
The  monetary  troubles  in  Massachusetts  were  much  ag 
gravated  by  the  large  issue  of  paper  money  in  Rhode 
Island,  which  was  occasioned  by  the  expenses  of  the  war. 
There  was  a  school  kept  up  at  Newport,  but  there  was 
no  public  provision  for  education.  In  1708,  the  popula 
tion  of  Rhode  Island  numbered  seven  thousand  one  hun 
dred  and  eighty-one. 

Connecticut,  fortunate  in  her  situation  and  in  the  re 
tention  of  her  charter,  was  spared  many  of  the  ills  of  her 
sister  colony  on  the  bay.  There  was  a  system 
of  education,  ordained  by  law,  for  the  instruc 
tion  of  the  people.  Yale  College  was  founded  in  1700, 
and  chartered  the  following  year.  Fletcher,  the  Gover 
nor  of  New  York,  who  visited  Hartford  in  1693,  to  assert 
practically  the  right  which  he  claimed  to  control  the  mi 
litia,  signally  failed  in  the  endeavor.  Serious  trouble 
grew  out  of  the  boundary  disputes  with  Massachusetts 
and  Rhode  Island.  The  boundary  line  on  the  east  was 
at  last  determined  in  accordance  with  the  views  of  Rhode 
Island.  In  the  prosecution  of  the  wars,  Connecticut  is- 


228  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

sued  paper  money,  but  not  in  such  an  amount  as  to  cre 
ate   financial   troubles.     She  made  her  contributions  of 
men  for  these  contests.     This  was  especially 

Saltonstall.  „.        . ,      .     n       . . 

true  alter  the  induction  oi  JSaltonstall  into  the 
office  of  Governor,  who  was  seventeen  times  in  succession 
chosen  to  this  place.  A  native  of  Massachusetts  and  a 
graduate  of  Harvard,  he  was  trained  for  the  ministry, 
and  became  a  pastor  in  New  London.  By  the  advice  of 
the  clergy  he  was  led  to  consent  to  take  the  office  of 
Governor  as  the  successor  of  Fitz-John  Winthrop.  He 
proved  to  be  a  very  able  and  successful  magistrate.  With 
dignity  of  person  and  manner,  and  impressive  power  as 
a  speaker,  there  were  associated  the  capacity  and  the 
firmness  of  a  statesman.  It  was  under  Saltonstall's  gov- 
The  saybrook  eminent,  in  1708,  that  a  synod  was  called  by 
Synod.  fae  coiOnial  legislature,  to  meet  at  Saybrook, 
for  the  regulation  of  the  ecclesiastical  arrangements  of 
the  province.  A  system  of  church  government,  mid-way 
between  simple  Congregationalism  and  the  Presbyterian 
method,  was  adopted,  and  was  sanctioned  by  the  legisla 
ture.  In  1714,  the  last  year  of  Queen  Anne's  reign,  there 
were  about  thirty-three  thousand  people  in  Connecticut. 
There  were  thirty-eight  towns  and  forty-three  ministers. 
Its  prosperous  and  happy  condition  is  indicated  by  the 
few  events  of  a  startling  character  that  occurred.  It  ap 
proached  the  happy  state  ascribed  to  a  people  that  has 
no  history. 

The  successor  of  Dudley  in  Massachusetts  was  Samuel 
Shute.     He  held  his  office  for  a  little  more  than  six  years. 
Shute  had  been  a  soldier,  and  had  served  un 
der  Marlborough.     William  Dummer,  a  native 
of  New  England,  was  made  Lieutenant-Governor.     Shute 
was  a  dissenter  in  his  religious  connection.     He  was  fair- 
minded,  with  a  soldier's  sense  of  the  obligations  of  law 
and  obedience.     But  it  was  inevitable  that  there  should  be 


NEW   ENGLAND   FROM   1688   TO   1756  229 

continual  friction  in  his  dealings  with  the  General  Court. 
There  were  the  standing  subjects  of  discussion — the  ques 
tion  about  a  fixed  salary  for  the  officials  appointed  by  the 
King,  and  the  strengthening  of  the  Pemaquid  fort.  In 
addition  to  these  points  of  difference,  there  was  more 
trouble  between  the  colonists  and  their  English  rulers  on 
the  matter  of  the  trees  reserved  for  the  masts  and  spars 
of  the  royal  navy.  Trees  of  a  certain  height  and  circum 
ference  were  held  to  belong  to  the  King,  and  it  was  unlaw 
ful  to  dispose  of  them  in  any  other  way.  But  this  prohi 
bition  was  nowhere  strictly  regarded.  The  King's  broad 
arrow  stamped  upon  them  did  not  restrain  the  hardy  set 
tlers  from  cutting  them  down  and  devoting  them  to  what 
ever  use  they  pleased.  In  the  dispute  about  the  interpre 
tation  of  the  law  on  the  subject,  the  people  had  <;hnte,g  con 
a  champion  in  Elisha  Cooke,  the  younger,  flicts  with  the 
"When  the  Lower  House  chose  him  to  be  their 
Speaker,  Shute  declined  to  ratify  their  choice.  When  the 
Governor  failed  to  please  the  deputies,  they  diminished  the 
annual  grant  for  his  support.  In  the  war  with  the  East 
ern  Indians,  they  would  not  permit  him  to  erect  trading- 
posts  as  a  means  of  defence  and  security.  They  interfered 
with  his  military  control  by  claiming  the  right  to  appoint 
the  officers,  to  remove  those  who  were  unsatisfactory  to 
them,  and  to  dictate  as  to  the  movements  of  troops.  De 
spairing  of  success  in  this  complex  quarrel  with  the  Gen 
eral  Court,  Shute  withdrew,  and  went  to  Eng 
land  to  present  his  complaints.  William  Dum- 
mer,  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  was  left  in  his  place.  The 
House  refused  to  pay  the  officers  whom  it  did  not  like,  and 
to  vote  supplies  until  they  should  be  removed. 

J  Destruction 

Year  after  year,  murders  continued  to  be  com-   offtasie'sset- 
mitted  by  the   Eastern  savages.     The  centre 
and   source   of   hostile   attacks   was   believed  to  be  the 
settlement  of  Rasle.     In  August,  1724,  a  force  was  sent 


230  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

up  the  Kennebec,  which  attacked  and  destroyed  the 
settlement.  Rasle  himself  was  shot  by  a  soldier.  Two 
years  later  a  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded  with  the  East 
ern  tribes.  Jeremiah  Dummer  and  Cooke  were  employed 
by  the  colony  as  agents  in  England  to  oppose  Shute.  In 
Explanatory  1725,  an  explanatory  charter  was  issued,  which 

charter,  affirmed  the  necessity  of  the  Governor's  appro 
val  of  the  choice  of  a  Speaker,  and  of  his  sanction  for  an 
adjournment  of  the  House  for  a  longer  period  than  two 
days.  This  charter  abstained  from  touching  the  other 
points  in  the  controversy.  After  warm  debate,  on  January 
15,  1726,  the  House  concurred  with  the  Council  in  ac 
cepting  it.  Shute  was  preparing  to  return  to  the  prov 
ince,  when  he  was  set  aside  by  the  accession  of  George 
LT. 

In  New  Hampshire,  the  opposition  of  Vaughan  to 
Shute  led  to  the  removal  of  the  former,  who  was  sue- 
New  Harnp-  ceeded  by  John  Wentworth,  a  native  of  the 

shire,  province.  "When  the  Indian  wars  ceased,  the 
colony  grew  in  numbers  and  wealth.  An  important 
event  was  the  settlement  of  Londonderry  by  one  hun 
dred  families  of  Scottish  Presbyterians  from  the  town  of 
the  same  name  in  Ireland — the  town  so  famous  for  with 
standing  the  siege  of  the  forces  of  James  II.  In  1715, 
there  were  seven  towns  in  Rhode  Island  with  a  popula 
tion  in  the  aggregate  of  about  nine  thousand  inhabitants. 
In  a  collection  of  the  statutes  of  Rhode  Island 
there  is  a  law  which  is  thought  to  belong  to 
the  time  of  Bellomont,  excluding  Roman  Catholics  from 
the  privilege  of  voting  and  of  holding  office.  In  1724, 
the  franchise  was  restricted  to  freemen  possessed  of  real 
estate  to  the  value  of  £100,  or  yielding  an  income  of  £2, 
and  to  their  oldest  sons. 

Connecticut,  in  1722  and  the  following  year,  did  not 
approve  of  the  Indian  wars  in  which  her  aid  was  re- 


NEW   ENGLAND   FROM   1688   TO   1756  231 

quested  by  Massachusetts.  Her  charter  was  occasion 
ally  threatened,  but  was  protected  in  London  by  the 

efforts  of  Dummer,  aided  by  Sir  Henry  Ash- 

.,  J  ..     "        ...       Connecticut. 

urst.     In    1713,  the  boundary   question   with 
Massachusetts  was  settled. 

In  the  closing  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  the 
Arminian  theology  had  corne  to  prevail  widely  in  Eng 
land,  in  the  room  of  the  stricter  Augustinian  Tbe  4,Great 
and  Calvinistic  opinions  which  had  previously  Revival." 
held  sway  among  both  churchmen  and  non-conformists. 
A  tendency  to  latitudinarian  ways  of  thought  in  theology 
was  rife  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
same  phases  of  opinion  silently  spread  in  New  England. 
It  was  lamented  by  many  that,  owing  to  a  variety  of  in 
fluences,  there  had  come  to  exist  a  wide-spread  decline 
in  religious  earnestness,  and  a  corresponding  negligence 
in  moral  conduct.  In  1734,  there  occurred  a  remarkable 
awakening  of  religious  interest  in  the  parish  of  Jonathan 
Edwards,  at  Northampton.  He  had  no  sympathy  with 
the  current  innovations  in  theology,  and  was  character 
ized  by  profound  sincerity  in  his  religious  convictions. 
A  strong  impression  was  made  by  his  preaching,  there 
was  much  excitement,  and  there  were  many  conversions. 
Similar  effects  were  produced  by  preachers  of  a  like 
spirit  in  other  places.  In  1739,  after  a  lull  in  the  reli 
gious  movement,  it  recommenced.  It  extended  from 
place  to  place,  and  the  fire  was  fanned  into  a  flame  by 
the  eloquence  of  Whitefield,  who  came  into  New  England 
from  the  Southern  States  in  1740.  Whitefield, 

,  .       ~  .  .  •         ,      n   i-i  Whitefield. 

on  his  first  sojourn  in  America,  had  labored 

as  a  missionary  in  Georgia.  In  the  course  of  his  seven 
visits  to  this  country,  he  repeatedly  traversed  all  the  col 
onies,  producing  in  them,  as  he  produced  in  England, 
a  great  effect  by  his  consecrated  spirit  and  his  almost 
unexampled  power  as  an  orator.  When  he  preached, 


232  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

the  largest  houses  of  worship  were  crowded  with  eager 
listeners.  He  addressed  in  the  open  air  throngs  far 
greater  than  any  building  could  contain.  The  result  in 
New  England  was  a  large  number  of  conversions,  and  in 
many  towns  a  general  attentiveness  to  religion.  There 
were  those,  however,  who  deprecated  the  extraordinary 
excitement  which  accompanied  the  revival.  A  censorious 
spirit  in  relation  to  worthy  ministers  who  preferred  more 
quiet  ways — a  spirit  which  Whitefield,  to  his  regret  af 
terward,  did  something  to  encourage — alienated  many 
sincerely  religious  men.  At  one  time,  the  Faculties  of 
Harvard  and  Yale  severally  issued  Declarations  adverse 
to  him  and  to  the  character  of  his  influence.  He  was 
not  slow  to  make  reparation  for  the  harm  which,  in  his 
youthful  zeal — for  he  was  only  twenty-five  when  he  be 
gan  his  work  in  New  England — he  had  done  by  his  in 
discreet  remarks.  Among  the  undesirable  consequences 
of  the  "  Great  Kevival "  was  the  division  in  churches  of 
which  it  was  the  occasion.  The  most  enthusiastic  par 
ticipants,  not  satisfied  with  the  preachers  who  disap 
proved  of  the  agitation  and  the  outcries  which  were  re 
garded  as  "  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,"  broke  off  from  the 
parishes,  and  organized  "  Separatist "  meetings.  The 
"Separatist"  movement  was  especially  active  and  mis 
chievous  in  Connecticut.  It  was  fomented  by  a  fanati 
cal  preacher  from  Long  Island,  James  Davenport.  The 
Connecticut  Legislature,  in  1742,  expelled  him  from  the 
colony.  Other  repressive  enactments  in  reference  to  the 
schismatical  proceedings  referred  to,  were  adopted  ;  and 
a  law  was  passed  forbidding  any  minister  to  preach  with 
in  the  bounds  of  a  parish  without  the  consent  of  its 
Effects  of  pastor.  The  estimate  of  the  general  character 
the  Revival.  and  effect  of  ^  Revival  varied  with  the  tem 
perament  and  opinions  of  those  who  pronounced  upon 
it.  Edwards,  and  the  people  in  sympathy  with  him,  held 


NEW   ENGLAND   FROM   1688   TO   1756  233 

that  it  brought,  on  the  whole,  an  immense  benefit  to  the 
communities  affected  by  it,  while,  at  the  same  time  they 
deplored  the  extravagances  that  came  in  its  train.  On 
the  other  hand,  theologians  of  the  type  of  Dr.  Chaun- 
cey,  of  Boston,  and  President  Stiles,  of  Yale  College — 
more  latitudinarian  in  their  type  of  thought  —  judged 
that  there  was  a  preponderance  of  evil,  and  spoke  with 
regret  of  "  the  late  period  of  enthusiasm."  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  this  religious  movement,  of  which  Edwards 
and  Whitefield  were  the  most  noted  leaders,  had  a  de 
cided  influence  upon  the  subsequent  ecclesiastical  history 
of  New  England. 

William  Burnet  was  a  son  of  the  distinguished  Bishop 
of  Salisbury.  He  was  bred  to  the  law.  On  the  accession 
of  George  II.,  he  was  transferred,  in  1728,  from 
the  office  of  Governor  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey  to  the  same  station  in  Massachusetts.  His  per 
sonal  excellence,  which  all  acknowledged,  could  not  save 
him  from  constant  warfare  with  the  House  of  Represent 
atives  during  the  fourteen  months  in  which  he  adminis 
tered  the  government.  Feeling  bound  to  fulfil  his  in 
structions,  he  insisted  on  the  settlement  of  a 
fixed  salary,  which,  according  to  the  King's  let-  wSfthc1  As 
ter,  was  to  be  £1,000.  The  House  voted  to  sembly' 
give  him  a  much  larger  sum,  but  refused  to  be  bound  for 
more  than  one  year.  The  large  amounts  which  were  ten 
dered  to  him  he  rejected,  since  he  regarded  them  as  bribes 
to  persuade  him  to  forsake  his  duty.  In  the  course  of 
the  controversy  he  adjourned  the  Court  to  Salem,  as  a 
place  where,  unlike  Boston,  "prejudices  had  not  taken 
root."  His  right  to  do  so  was  called  in  question.  Until 
the  House  should  yield  in  the  matter  of  the  salary,  he  re 
fused  to  concur  with  its  resolves  providing  for  the  pay  of 
its  own  members.  Burnet  died  suddenly  from  a  fever 
resulting  from  an  accidental  overthrow  of  his  carriage 


234  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

while  fording  a  stream.  His  only  remuneration  during 
his  official  service  was  from  fees  received  from  passes 
given  to  vessels  cleared  at  the  Custom-House.  This  was 
objected  to  by  the  colony,  and  the  custom  was  afterwards 
disallowed.  While  Lieutenant-Governor  Dummer  was  in 
power,  an  act  was  passed  relieving  Quakers  and  Baptists 
from  the  obligation  to  pay  parish  taxes. 

Burnet's  successor,  Jonathan  Belcher,  was  in  office 
eleven  years.  He  was  a  native  of  the  colony,  the  grand 
son  of  an  innkeeper  at  Cambridge.  He  had 
graduated  at  Harvard,  and  had  resided  in 
England,  where  he  was  for  a  time  agent  of  the  colony. 
He  was  a  man  of  pleasing  manners,  but  of  an  intriguing 
disposition.  It  was  thought  that  he  would  be  able  to 
manage  the  fractious  and  disobedient  representatives. 
But  whatever  might  be  the  personal  traits  of  the  chief 
magistrate,  the  representatives  were  immovable  in  the 
resolution  to  regulate  his  salary  from  year  to  year.  This 
they  considered  their  right  by  the  charter.  To  give  it  up 
would  have  made  the  Governor  independent  of  them,  but 
at  the  same  time  absolutely  dependent  on  the  King.  At 
last,  as  the  result  of  petitions  from  the  House  to  the  King 
and  to  the  Commons,  the  Governor  received  permission 
to  receive  for  his  support  annual  grants.  In  a  contest 
in  behalf  of  these  claims  to  audit  public  charges  before 
the  money  which  they  had  granted  should  be  paid  out,  the 
Representatives  were  compelled  by  the  decision  of  the 
King  in  Council,  and  of  the  House  of  Commons,  to  yield. 
Their  request  to  the  Governor  to  appoint  a  day  of  Fast 
ing  and  Prayer  on  account  of  this  afflictive  event  was  re 
fused.  When  the  war  with  Spain  began,  in  1739,  the 
House  renewed  their  demand.  Consequently  only  a  small 
number  of  troops  were  sent  to  take  part  in  Admiral 
Vernon's  unsuccessful  siege  of  Carthagena.  Belcher  was 
opposed  by  Dunbar,  who  was  Lieutenant-Governor  in 


NEW   ENGLAND   FROM    1688   TO   1756  235 

New  Hampshire  after  Wenfcworth.  Belcher  favored  the 
union  of  that  province  with  Massachusetts.  He  drew  on 
himself  the  enmity  of  those  who  were  interested  in  the 
Land  Bank.  But  it  was  chiefly  by  means  of  political 
scheming  in  England  that  he  was  removed  uemovai  of 
from  office.  The  untruth  of  the  charges  made  Belcher, 
against  him  was  established,  and  he  was  appointed  Gov 
ernor  of  New  Jersey.  There  were  disputes  in  New 
Hampshire  between  the  Representatives  and  Shute,  who 
refused  to  ratify  their  choice  of  a  Speaker.  With  Buraet 
there  was  no  trouble.  He  was  allowed  a  stated  salary. 

In  Connecticut,  Joseph  Talcott,  the  successor  of  Salton- 
stall,  remained  in  office  seventeen  years,  until  his  death. 
There  was  a  controversy  started  by  John  Win-  Connecticut 
throp,  the  nephew  of  the  late  Governor,  on 
the  question  of  the  distribution  of  the  real  estate  of 
persons  dying  intestate.  During  the  conflict  in  Massa 
chusetts  with  Burnet,  there  was  alarm  in  reference  to  the 
charter,  and  pains  were  taken  to  make  it  understood  that 
Connecticut  wis  not  implicated  in  the  policy  of  the  sis 
ter  colony.  In  1729,  Baptists  and  Quakers  were  ex 
empted  from  paying  for  the  support  of  Congregational 
worship,  in  case  they  maintained  worship  for  themselves. 
Laws  were  enacted  for  the  punishment  and  prevention  of 
idleness  and  vice.  An  old  prejudice  against  lawyers  con 
tinued.  It  was  enacted  that  not  more  than  eleven  persons 
of  that  profession  should  be  permitted  to  reside  in  the 
colony. 

In  Rhode  Island,  in  1730,  there  was  a  population  of 
seventeen  thousand  nine  hundred  and  thirty-five,  of  whom 
fifteen  thousand  three  hundred  and  two  were 
whites,   the  remainder  consisting  of   negroes 
and  a  much  smaller  number  of  Indians.     Cranston,  who 
died  in  1727,  had  been  Governor  for  thirty  successive 
years.     His  successor,  Joseph  Jenckes,  held  office  for  five 


236  HIE   COLONIAL   ERA 

years,  and  would  have  retained  the  station  had  it  not 
been  for  his  intelligent  and  upright  conduct  in  refusing 
to  consent  to  the  further  issue  of  paper  money.  In  1729, 
there  arrived  in  Newport  the  illustrious  philosopher, 
Bishop  Berke-  Bishop  Berkeley.  He  was  a  resident  there  for 
several  years,  and  while  there  composed  "  The 
Minute  Philosopher."  Disappointed  in  reference  to  his 
plan  for  founding  a  college  in  Bermuda  for  training 
missionaries  to  the  Indians,  he  returned  to  England. 
At  Newport  he  founded  a  library,  and  he  was  a  generous 
benefactor  of  Yale  College. 

William  Shirley,  the  next  Governor  of  Massachusetts, 
like  Burnet,  was  brsd  to  the  law,  and  had  lived  in  Boston 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  was  not 
wanting  in  talents  ;  he  was  active  and  enter 
prising  as  well  as  ambitious.  He  had  early  won  the  favor 
of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  by  whom  his  fortunes  were  ad 
vance:!.  Although  a  determined  opponent  of  the  bad 
financial  policy  which  had  so  long  disgraced  the  colony, 
Shirley  yielded  temporarily  to  necessity,  and  took  the 
risk  of  consenting  to  a  further  issue  of  bills  of  credit. 
He  proceeded  cautiously  in  respect  to  the  old  contro 
versy  about  the  Governor's  salary,  and  when  it  was  evi 
dent  that  the  House  was  not  to  be  moved,  it  was  dropped 
by  the  common  consent  of  the  Governor  and  the  minis 
try.  On  the  approach  of  war  between  England  and 
France  after  a  long  interval  of  peace,  it  was  necessary  for 
preparations  to  be  made  once  more  against  the  French 
and  Indians.  To  Shirley  belongs  the  credit  of  suggests 
capture  of  ^n&  ^e  plan  for  the  reduction  of  the  strong 
Lonisburg.  fortress  of  Louisburg.  The  command  of  the 
New  England  troops — from  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
and  New  Hampshire — was  given  to  William  Pepperell,  a 
native  of  Maine,  a  man  in  whose  abilities  and  honesty 
confidence  was  justly  reposed.  An  English  fleet,  under 


NEW   ENGLAND   FROM    1688  TO   1756  237 

Commodore  Warren,  co-operated  in  the  attack.  During 
the  siege  a  French  vessel  bringing  supplies  to  the  for 
tress  was  captured.  The  expedition  was  attended  with 
complete  success.  The  fort  was  surrendered  on  June 
15,  1745.  Pepperell  was  rewarded  by  being  made  a 
baronet.  Both  he  and  Shirley  were  appointed  colonels. 
The  English  government  reimbursed  the  colonies  for 
their  expenditures.  The  coin  thus  received  enabled 
Massachusetts  to  redeem  its  paper  currency.  That  it 
was  applied  to  this  purpose,  in  the  face  of  strenuous  op 
position,  was  in  no  small  measure  owing  to  the  enlight 
ened  views  of  Shirley,  and  the  earnest  exertions  of  one 
of  the  representatives,  Thomas  Hutchinson,  who  at  a 
later  day  became  Governor  of  the  colony.  The  peace  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  greatly  to  the  sorrow  of  the  colony,  in 
cluded  a  provision  for  the  reciprocal  restoration  of  all 
conquests.  Louisburg  went  back  into  the  hands  of  the 
French.  A  riot  occurred  in  Boston,  when  a  British  naval 
officer,  Commodore  Knowles,  undertook  to  impress  sea 
men.  The  commotion  was  so  serious  that  the  Governor 
retired  to  the  castle.  The  matter  was  settled  by  the 
General  Court.  The  men  who  had  been  seized,  or  the 
most  of  them,  were  given  up.  In  1749,  Shirley,  who  had 
now  become  distinguished,  went  to  England,  a  Shirley  in 
part  of  his  errand  being  to  urge  the  settlement  Ensiaud. 
of  the  boundary  between  the  colonies  and  New  France. 
The  efforts  to  agree  upon  a  lino  proved  abortive.  Shir 
ley  was  also  interested  in  thwarting  the  exertions  of  the 
French  to  establish  a  line  of  fortresses  westward  from 
Crown  Point.  He  returned  to  Massachusetts  in  1753. 
He  entered  with  ardor  into  the  conflict  which  wras  now 
beginning  between  the  two  nations  for  domin-  The  Albany 
ion  in  America.  At  the  Congress  of  Com-  Congress, 
missioners,  at  Albany,  which  undertook  to  form  a  confed 
eration  of  colonies,  Shirley  was  not  present  in  person. 


238  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

He  believed  in  the  necessity  of  union,  but  did  not  com 
mit  himself  to  the  Albany  scheme,  the  particular  char 
acter  of  which  suited  neither  the  colonies  nor  the  Eng 
lish  ministry,  although  for  opposite  reasons.  Respect 
ing  a  plan  formed  by  the  ministry,  Shirley  conferred 
with  Franklin.  Franklin  assured  him  that  the  col 
onies  would  not  be  content  to  be  taxed  by  Parliament 
while  they  had  no  representation  in  that  body. 

On  April  14,  1755,  a  council  was  held  at  Alexandria,  in 
Virginia,  at  which  were  present  the  commanders,  General 
Council  at  Braddock  and  Admiral  Keppel.  The  fruit  of 
Alexandria.  ^|s  conference  was  four  military  expeditions. 
The  first  was  an  expedition  to  Nova  Scotia,  in  which  two 
thousand  provincial  troops,  under  the  command  of  John 
Winslow,  took  part.  A  result  of  this  expedition  was  the 
expulsion  from  their  homes  of  the  French 
Bion  of'  the  Neutrals,  or  Acadians,  a  measure  decided  upon 
ms'  by  the  British  officers,  in  conformity  with  a 
plan  which  had  been  considered  at  a  much  earlier  day  in 
England,  as  well  as  among  English  officials  in  America. 
The  Acadians  were  an  inoffensive,  industrious,  pious  body 
of  Roman  Catholic  peasants.  It  was  feared  that  they 
might  be  used  as  auxiliaries  of  the  French  in  the  great 
contest  which  had  now  commenced.  The  option  was 
given  them  to  swear  allegiance  to  the  British  King,  or  to 
be  driven  from  their  homes.  They  declined  the  oath,  and 
were  transported,  about  seven  thousand  in  number,  from 
their  loved  abodes,  to  be  dispersed  in  the  southern  prov 
inces  subject  to  England.  About  a  thousand  came  to 
Massachusetts,  where  they  were  kindly  treated,  with  the 
important  exception  that  they  were  not  allowed  to  have 
priests  of  their  own.  Some  wandered  as  far  as  the  West 
Indies  and  Jamaica.  Few,  if  any,  ceased  to  yearn  for  their 
old  home. 

Another  military  expedition,  which  was  designed  to  at- 


NEW   ENGLAND   FROM   1688   TO   1756  239 

tack  Crown  Point  and  Montreal,  was  commanded  by  Will 
iam  Johnson,  an  inhabitant  of  the  province  of  New  York, 
who  was  considered  to  have  a  great  influence 

T     ,.  T1  .    ,  T        Battle  near 

over  the  Indians.  It  was  mainly  composed  Lake  Cham- 
of  three  thousand  Massachusetts  and  Connec-  F 
ticut  militia.  Baron  Dieskau,  who  had  been  made  Gov 
ernor  of  Quebec,  moved  southward  with  a  force  of  French 
and  Indians  to  meet  this  invading  body.  On  the  south 
ern  end  of  Lake  George  an  encounter  took  place,  in 
which  the  French  were  beaten  and  their  leader  severely 
wounded.  Among  the  troops  on  the  victorious  side  were 
John  Stark,  and  Israel  Putnam,  who  was  a  second  lieu 
tenant.  Among  those  who  fell,  in  a  previous  engage 
ment,  earlier  in  the  day,  was  Colonel  Williams,  who  left  a 
bequest  which  led  to  the  foundation  of  the  college  in 
Massachusetts  that  is  called  by  his  name. 

A  third  expedition,  against  Fort  Niagara,  at  the  mouth 
of  Niagara  River,  where  it  enters  Lake  Ontario,  was  led 
by  Shirley  in  person.  It  was  substantially  a  shiiiey  super- 
failure.  It  advanced  no  farther  than  Oswego.  8eded> 
Shirley's  military  ability  fell  below  his  own  estimate  of  it 
and  the  opinion  cherished  by  others.  Before  the  story  of 
his  expedition  had  reached  England  he  had  been  appointed 
to  succeed  Braddock,  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Eng 
lish  forces  in  America.  But  he  was  soon  superseded.  He 
was  requested  to  return  to  England,  the  ground  alleged 
being  a  desire  to  consult  him  respecting  the  operations 
of  the  war.  He  became  Governor  of  the  Bahama  Islands, 
but  came  back  to  Massachusetts  to  spend  his  closing  days. 

Benning  Wentworth,  who  represented  the  party  in  favor 
of  keeping  New  Hampshire  a  distinct  province,  became 
Governor  in  1741.  His  administration  went  New  namp. 
on  smoothly  ,for  a  number  of  years.  Young 
Mason  conveyed  his  interest  in  the  Mason  claims  to  a 
company  of  twelve,  who  took  such  a  liberal  course  in  the 


240  THE  COLONIAL  ERA 

disposal  of  lands  as  to  satisfy  the  people.  Rival  claimants 
who  inherited  Allen's  claims  could  do  nothing.  A  serious 
dispute  arose  between  the  Governor  and  the  Assembly, 
which  he  was  accused  of  packing  in  order  to  secure  the 
passage  of  certain  measures.  Three  years  elapsed  before 
the  dissension  came  to  an  end. 

Jonathan  Law  succeeded  Talcott  as  Governor  of  Con 
necticut.     The  colony  sent  more  than  four  thousand  men 
to  the  siege  of  Louisburg,  and  the  next  year 

Connecticut.  .    .,      .     -,        .,  -,  ., 

contributed  a  thousand  men  to  the  unsuccess 
ful  enterprise  against  Quebec.  Connecticut  was  strongly 
opposed  to  the  Albany  plan  of  union,  in  1754.  This  was 
the  last  year  of  Roger  Wolcott's  administration  as  Gov 
ernor.  He  was  succeeded  by  Thomas  Fitch.  The  colony 
was  kind  and  hospitable  to  the  Acadian  exiles.  In  the 
struggle  with  France,  in  its  successive  stages,  Connecti 
cut  had  an  important  part,  and  was  liberal  in  the  be 
stowal  of  both  men  and  money. 

Rhode  Island,  in  the  war  with  Spain,  and  in  the  sub 
sequent  wars  with  France,  was  active  in  the  business 
Rhode  is'and  °^  Priyateering.  After  the  siege  of  Louisburg 

the  colony  failed  to  embrace  the  opportunity 
to  get  rid  of  paper  money.  The  evils  of  an  inflated  cur 
rency  were  of  long  continuance.  Rhode  Island  had  her 
representatives  at  Albany  in  1754.  Her  legislature  did 
not  commit  itself  either  for  or  against  the  plan  of  union. 
Into  the  final  war  with  France,  from  1755  to  the  end, 
Rhode  Island  entered  with  energy,  both  on  the  land  and 
on  the  sea. 


X 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

NEW  YORK  FROM  1688  TO  1756 

Leisler  's  Insurrection  —  The  Assembly  called  by  Slougliter  —  Fletch 
er's  Ecclesiastical  Measures  —  Bellomont—  Cornbury  —  Trial  of 
Mackemie  —  Hunter  —  The  "  Palatines  "  —  Burnet  —  Cosby  — 
The  Liberty  of  the  Press  —  Independent  Spirit  of  the  As 
sembly—  "The  Negro  Plot"  —  Clinton's  Struggle  with  the  As 
sembly  —  The  Albany  Convention  —  Johnson's  Victory  —  Paper 
Money  —  Character  of  the  Middle  States  —  Society  in  New  York 
—  Education  —  Ruling  Families. 

WHEN  the  news  that  James  TL  was  dethroned  reached 
New  York,  the  government,  in  the  absence  of  Andros, 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Lieutenant-Gover-  jn_ 


nor,  Francis  Nicholson,  and  the  Council.  Not  surrection. 
knowing  what  to  do,  and  receiving  no  orders  from  An 
dros,  who  was  under  arrest  in  Boston,  Nicholson  sent  to 
England  for  instructions.  Meantime  rumors  were  scat 
tered  abroad  of  a  threatened  French  invasion.  Nichol 
son's  Protestantism  was  regarded  as  doubtful,  and  stories 
of  an  intended  rising  of  the  "  papists,"  to  join  hands 
with  the  expected  foreign  foe,  passed  from  one  to  another. 
Jacob  Leisler,  a  native  of  Frankfort,  in  Germany,  had 
been  a  soldier  before  coming  to  America.  In  New  York 
he  had  become  a  merchant.  He  was  a  zealous  Protestant, 
and  no  doubt  put  frith  in  the  unfounded  tales  of  a  secret 
purpose  of  Nicholson  and  others  to  strike  a  blow  for  the 
fallen  King,  or,  in  some  way  to  bring  in  by  force  the  re 
ligion  which  James  had  professed  and  favored.  Leisler 
was  captain  of  one  of  the  train-bands.  Nicholson  had  too 
16 


242  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

little  energy  to  make  any  resistance,  when  he  refused  to 
pay  the  duties  on  a  cargo  of  wine  to  the  collector,  whom 
he  called  a  "  papist,"  took  possession  of  the  Fort,  and 
made  himself  master  of  the  town.  The  three  councillors 
who  were  then  in  New  York,  were  all  Dutchmen,  but  they 
were  on  the  side  of  Nicholson.  Most  of  the  common  peo 
ple,  however,  a  large  majority  of  whom  were  Dutch,  were 
ardent  in  the  cause  of  King  William,  credulous  as  to  the 
wicked  intents  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  and  his  ad 
herents,  and  lent  their  help  to  Leisler.  William  was  pro 
claimed  King.  A  committee  of  safety  was  formed  by  ten 
members  of  an  Assembly  which  Leisler  called  together 
in  the  Fort  from  a  part  of  the  counties.  By  this  com 
mittee,  he  was  declared  to  be  Governor  of  the  Fort  until 
orders  should  come  "  from  their  Majesties."  Letters  to 
Nicholson,  or  to  "  such  as  may  bear  rule  for  the  time  being," 
giving  them  provisional  authority,  were  opened  by  Leisler 
and  used  as  a  warrant  for  the  extension  of  his  own  rule. 
Thenceforward  he  claimed  to  be  Lieutenant-Governor  by 
royal  commission.  He  was  acknowledged  in  the  town  of 
New  York,  and  his  power  spread.  He  arrested  and  im- 
Le'eierresiPt-  prisoned  any  who  did  not  obey  him.  But  in 
ed  in  Albany.  Albany,  where  Peter  Schuyler  was  Mayor,  and 
was  made  Captain  of  the  Fort,  the  people  refused  to  be 
subject  to  Leisler.  Milborne,  his  son-in-law,  went  there 
with  a  force,  to  be  used  in  case  of  need,  to  compel  obedi 
ence  ;  but  Schuyler,  a  cool  and  resolute  man,  who  was 
able,  if  he  saw  fit,  to  avail  himself  of  help  from  the  Mo 
hawks,  would  not  yield,  and  Milborne  had  to  give  up  his 
attempt.  But  when  the  French  inroads  began  in  earnest, 
and  the  slaughter  at  Schenectady  took  place,  the  neces- 
A  com  pro-  S^J  ^or  uni°n  was  ^e^  to  be  so  pressing,  that 
mise-  the  Albanians  made  concessions.  Leisler  was 
owned  as  acting  Governor,  Schuyler  being  still  left  in  his 
office  of  Mayor.  Albany  was  then  a  little  stockaded 


NEW   YORK    FROM    1G88   TO   1756  243 

village,  with  its  two  streets  crossing  each  other  at  right 
angles.  It  was,  however,  even  then,  a  very  thriving  place, 
the  centre  of  a  profitable  trade  in  furs  with  the  Indians. 
However  arbitrary  and  violent  Leisler  was,  he  was  an  en 
ergetic  leader  in  the  warfare  against  the  French.  New 
York  held  geographically  a  central  place  among  the  col 
onies,  and  he  showed  himself  competent  to  bring  the  other 
northern  provinces  into  co-operation  with  it  in  the  strug 
gle  which  concerned  alL 

Colonel  Henry  Sloughter,  a  worthless  man,  was  ap 
pointed  Governor  by  William  and  Mary.  In  consequence 
of  various  delays  he  did  not  arrive  in  New  York  until  a 
year  and  a  half  after  the  date  of  his  commission.  Mean 
time,  about  six  months  before  his  coming,  on  September 
10,  1690,  Major  Richard  Ingoldsby  landed  with  two  com 
panies  of  grenadiers.  Since  he  had  no  other  contest  with 
commission  than  that  of  a  Captain  of  Foot,  Ins°ldsby- 
Leisler  refused  to  give  up  the  Fort  until  the  Governor 
himself  should  arrive.  Ingoldsby  assumed  a  hostile  at 
titude.  One  day,  while  the  British  force  was  on  parade, 
a  collision  took  place.  Shots  were  exchanged  between 
Ingoldsby 's  soldiers  and  the  troops  in  the  Fort,  and  sev 
eral  were  killed  on  both  sides.  If  peace  could  have  been 
maintained  for  two  days  longer,  probably  no  further 
trouble  would  have  arisen,  for  two  days  later  Sloughter 
landed.  His  Council  had  been  appointed  for  him  in 
England.  It  was  composed  of  adversaries  of  Leisler, 
two  of  whom  he  held  in  confinement.  He  had  made  nu 
merous  and  bitter  enemies.  Leisler  had  no  intention  to 
keep  possession  of  the  Fort,  but  Sloughter  sent  demands 
for  its  surrender,  in  such  a  form  as  to  show  a  Execution  of 
willingness  to  put  him  in  the  wrong  and  to  oc 
casion  some  delay.  With  his  principal  abettors  he  was 
put  under  arrest,  and  a  special  court  was  constituted  to 
try  them  on  charges  of  treason  and  murder,  based  prin- 


244  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

cipally  on  the  resistance  which  he  had  offered  to  Ingolds- 
by.  Eight  of  the  accused  were  convicted  ;  two  were  put 
to  death.  The  vindictive  enemies  of  Leisler  induced 
Sloughter,  in  a  drunken  fit,  to  sign  his  death-warrant, 
and  that  of  Milborne.  Both  were  executed  on  May  16, 
1691.  Leisler's  dying  speech  gives  convincing  proof  of 
his  sincerity  as  a  man  and  a  Christian.  Parliament,  in 
1695,  after  full  inquiry,  reversed  the  attainder  of  Leisler 
and  his  associates.  In  this  act  it  was  declared  that  In- 
goldsby  had  no  legal  right  to  take  possession  of  the 
Fort,  and  that  Leisler  was  guilty  of  no  fault  in  connec 
tion  with  the  surrender  of  it  to  Sloughter.  Lord  Bello- 
inont,  who  was  one  of  the  committee  of  Parliament  to 
examine  the  matter,  told  Increase  Mather  that  Leisler 
and  his  son  were  "not  only  murdered,  but  barbarously 
murdered."  Their  destruction  was  an  act  of  political 
vengeance  done  by  the  "  party  of  aristocrats,"  as  they 
were  styled.  It  did  much  to  sow  the  seed  of  a  bitter 
party  contest  of  long  continuance  in  the  colony. 

Sloughter  was  directed  in  his  instructions  to  give  re 
ligious  liberty  to  all  except  Roman  Catholics.  The  Gen- 
The  Assem-  eral  Assembly,  which  he  was  authorized  to  sum- 
bly-  mon,  when  it  met,  re-enacted  substantially  the 
Bill  of  Rights  of  1683,  with  the  exception  that  the  right 
of  worship  according  to  the  "  Romish  Religion  "  was  de 
nied.  It  was  not  on  account  of  this  exception  that  the 
sanction  of  the  Sovereigns  to  the  act  of  the  Assembly  was 
withheld.  Later,  in  1700  and  1701,  laws  were  passed 
expelling  from  the  colony  Roman  Catholic  priests  and 
papist  recusants.  On  the  overthrow  of  James  II.,  and 
the  revival  of  warfare  with  France,  hostility  to  the  Ro 
man  religion  was  rekindled  in  all  the  English  dominions. 
Through  the  whole  period  that  followed  the  English 
revolution,  there  is  witnessed  in  New  York,  on  the  part 
of  the  people  represented  in  the  popular  Assemblies,  the 


NEW   YORK   FROM    1688  TO   1756  245 

same  contest  for  self-government  as  took  place  in  so  many 
other  colonies.  The  only  difference  is  that  in  New  York 
the  popular  party  were  sometimes  less  ex-  The  popular 
acting  and  less  inflexible  in  their  demands  party* 
than  was  the  case  in  Massachusetts.  The  principal  sub 
ject  of  controversy  had  to  do  with  the  method  of  levying 
taxes  and  of  controlling  the  disbursement  of  them.  The 
first  Assembly  under  Sloughter  created  a  revenue  for 
two  years.  Under  later  administrations,  the  term  of 
years  was  somewhat  extended.  After  1711,  for  four  suc 
cessive  years,  only  annual  appropriations  were  voted. 

Fletcher,  who  was  the  next  Governor,  had  also  Penn 
sylvania  and  Delaware  under  his  jurisdiction,  and  there 
was  assigned  to  him  the  command  of  the  mili 
tia  of  the  Jerseys  and  of  Connecticut.     His  at 
tempt  to  assume  this  last    power  at  Hartford  signally 
failed.     He  involved  himself  in  a  quarrel  with  the  As 
sembly  in  reference  to  the  churches.     Andros  had  tried 
to  promote  the  cause  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 

•*•  Spplvfl  to  pfl- 

but  his  efforts  produced  no  effect.  After  Will-  tabiieh  Epis- 
iam's  accession  that  church  began  to  grow.  c 
The  retention  by  the  Dutch  of  their  own  language  in  re 
ligious  services  retarded  the  progress  of  their  commun 
ion,  and  was  one  of  the  principal  causes  why,  by  degrees, 
it  relatively  fell  behind  other  religious  bodies.  Miller, 
the  English  chaplain  of  the  Fort,  was  anxious  to  have  a 
bishop  sent  over,  and  a  number  of  clergymen  with  him, 
to  take  charge  of  the  handful  of  Episcopalians,  and  of 
others  who,  it  was  hoped,  might  be  brought  to  conform 
to  their  ecclesiastical  system.  But  this  proposal  was  not 
seconded.  It  was  a  part  of  Sloughter's  instructions  that 
the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  should  be  read  in  the  col 
ony.  To  the  vestrymen  and  church-wardens  the  right  of 
presentation  was  to  be  given.  In  1693,  an  act  of  the  As 
sembly  provided  that  in  four  counties  that  were  named 


246  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

there  should  be  five  ministers,  and  each  county  was  to 
raise  a  specified  sum  for  their  maintenance.  All  free 
holders  were  to  vote  in  the  election  of  vestrymen  and 
wardens.  Fletcher  insisted  that  the  act  must  be  held  to 
relate  to  none  but  Episcopal  ministers.  This,  he  con 
tended,  was  the  legal  interpretation  of  the  phrase  "  Prot 
estant  minister."  The  Assembly  refused  to  agree  to  this 
construction,  and  voted  that  the  vestrymen  and  church 
wardens  might  call,  if  they  chose,  "  a  dissenting  Protes 
tant  minister."  It  rejected  the  Governor's  claim  to  the 
right  "  of  collating  or  suspending  any  minister "  in  the 
province.  When  Trinity  Church  was  established,  which 
was  in  1697,  Fletcher  applied  the  Act  of  1693  ;  but  the 
wardens  and  vestrymen,  instead  of  being  chosen  by  "  all 
freeholders,"  were  elected  by  Church  of  England  people 
alone.  It  continued  to  be  maintained  that  none  but  Epis 
copal  clergymen  have  any  title  to  a  support  at  the  pub 
lic  expense.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  endowed  churches 
were  mostly  of  that  communion.  To  this  extent  did  the 
Governor  succeed  in  procuring  an  establishment  of  the 
Anglican  Church.  Notwithstanding  his  ecclesiastical 
zeal,  Fletcher  was  avaricious  as  well  as  violent  in  tem 
per.  He  sought  to  enrich  himself  by  fraudulent  means. 
Charges  of  evil  conduct  led  to  his  recall. 

Bellomont  allied   himself  with  the   Leislerians.      The 
bodies  of  Leisler  and  Milborne  were  exhumed,  and  re- 
buried  with  honors  in  the  Dutch  Church.     The 
Assembly    passed    an    act   of    indemnity   for 
Leisler.     Bayard,   one  of  his  chief   opponents,  was   ar 
raigned   on  a  charge  of    treason,  based  on  imputations 
cast  on  Bellomont  and  Nanfan,  the  Lieutenant-Governor. 
He  would  have  been  convicted  but  for  the  ar 
rival  of  the  new  Governor,  Lord  Cornbury,  a 
dissolute  spendthrift,  who  was  prospective  heir  of  the 
Earldom  of  Clarendon,  and  first  cousin  of  Queen  Anne. 


NEW   YORK    FROM    1GS8   TO   1750  247 

He  was  sent  out  to  keep  him  out  of  harm's  way,  and,  if 
possible,  to  help  him  to  mend  his  fortunes.  He  allied 
himself  at  once  with  the  anti-Leislerians.  Bayard  was 
released.  The  law  under  which  he  was  tried  was  annulled 
by  the  Queen.  Cornbury  united  with  his  enmity  to  the 
popular  party  a  great  zeal  for  the  Episcopal  Church.  He 
insisted  that  all  preachers  should  have  a  li cense  His  zeal  for 
from  the  Bishop  of  London.  He  seized  the  **»«"*«*• 
parsonage  of  a  Presbyterian  minister  on  Long  Island, 
and  gave  it  into  the  hands  of  the  Episcopalians.  Francis 
Makemie,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  was  pros-  Trial  of  Ma- 
ecuted  for  preaching  without  a  license,  and 
for  using  forms  of  worship  not  set  forth  in  the  English 
Prayer-Book.  It  was  pretended  that  the  English  acts 
of  uniformity  were  in  force  in  the  province.  At  the  trial, 
the  principles  of  religious  liberty  were  strongly  defended. 
Makemie  made  the  closing  argument  for  himself.  He 
was  acquitted.  The  law  which  ordained  that  a  popish 
priest,  if  he  came  into  the  province  of  his  own  accord, 
should  be  hanged,  was  still  unrepealed.  Cornbury  di 
verted  special  appropriations  of  the  Assembly  to  his  own 
use.  By  his  rapacity  and  profligacy  he  brought  on  him 
self  the  hatred  of  all  parties.  The  Assembly,  in  their 
contest  with  him,  voted  "  that  the  imposing  and  levying 
of  any  moneys  upon  her  Majesty's  subjects  of  this  colony, 
under  any  pretense  or  color  whatever,  without  consent  in 
General  Assembly,  is  a  grievance  and  a  violation  of  the 
people's  property."  Lovelace,  who  followed  Cornbury, 
lived  less  than  six  months.  Then  Robert  Hunt-  Hunter. 
er,  a  soldier,  and  a  friend  of  Swift  and  Addi- 
son,  became  Governor.  He  was  not  without  excellent 
qualities.  But  he  found  the  Assembly  resolute  on  the 
subject  of  salaries,  and  was  obliged  to  acquiesce  in  a  com 
promise.  A  great  disappointment  was  produced  by  the 
failure  of  the  expedition  against  Montreal,  where  Nichol- 


248  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

son  commanded  the  land-forces,  but  was  obliged  to  re 
treat  on  account  of  the  failure  of  the  British  fleet  and 
forces  under  Walker  and  Hill.  Rumors  of  an  intended 
insurrection  of  negroes  created  such  a  panic  that  not  less 
than  nineteen  blacks  were  condemned  and  executed.  The 
British  Government  took  the  usual  course  of  preventing 
the  rise  of  manufactures,  but  emigration  was  increasing 
New  Bettiers  *^ie  P°Pula^on  °f  the  colony.  A  large  number 
of  Germans  from  the  Palatinate — hence  called 
"  the  Palatines  " — were  brought  in,  who,  as  soon  as  they 
were  set  free  from  the  baneful  contract  system,  proved  to 
be  industrious  laborers.  Settlements  were  gradually  ex 
tended  up  the  Mohawk  valley.  Hunter  was  tolerant  in 
his  ecclesiastical  policy.  He  was  opposed  by  the  Assem 
bly  in  his  plan  for  establishing  a  Court  of  Chancery  which 
should  be  independent  of  the  people  in  its  constitution 
and  modes  of  procedure.  But  in  the  adoption  of  this 
measure  he  was  sustained  in  England.  When  he  laid 
down  his  office,  he  parted  from  the  colony  with  mutual 
expressions  of  good-will. 

Burnet,  the  next  Governor,  obtained  the  passage  of  a 
law  forbidding  trade  with  Canada.     This  was  a  part  of 
Bumet.       B^s  plan  ^or  organizing  means  for  weakening 
1720-28.       foe  pOwer  of  France.     But  this  trade  was  pro 
fitable  ;  the  law  was  unpopular,  and  in  1729  it  was  re 
pealed  by  the  British  authorities.     The  Chancery  Court 
was  a  subject  of  standing  complaint.     In  his  measures 
against  the  French,  Burnet  was  useful  and  efficient.     He 
cemented  alliances  with  the  Indians,  and  established  a 
trading-post  at  Oswego.     The  province  enjoyed  compara 
tive  quiet  for  three  years  while  John  Montgomerie  was 
Governor  ;  but  this  interval  of  rest  terminated, 
in  1732,  at  the  accession  of  Cosby.     A  quarrel 
immediately  sprang  up  between  the  Governor  and  Rip 
van  Dam,  the  senior  councillor,  who  had  administered  the 


NEW    YORK   FROM   1688   TO    1756  249 

highest  office  during  the  vacancy,  lasting  for  thirteen 
months.  The  controversy  related  to  the  portion  of  the 
salary  that  should  be  allotted  to  him  for  this  service. 
Cosby  removed  the  Chief  Justice  who  was  to  try  the  cause, 
and  appointed  another  in  his  place.  A  political  contest 
was  the  result  of  this  dispute.  John  Peter 

f  ±i       HT        -\r  Contest  for 

Zenger  established  a  newspaper,  the  J\ew  York  the  liberty  of 
Weekly  Journal,  on  the  popular  side,  against 
the  Governor  and  his  party.  In  1734,  not  far  from  a 
year  after  its  establishment,  he  was  arrested  and  im 
prisoned,  his  paper  was  publicly  burned,  and  he  was 
prosecuted  for  libeL  When  the  case  was  tried,  there  ap 
peared  in  court  to  defend  the  accused  an  eminent  barrister 
from  Pennsylvania,  Andrew  Hamilton.  His  manly  and 
eloquent  plea  for  the  liberty  of  the  press  moved  the  jury 
— despite  the  efforts  of  the  court  to  make  itself  the  sole 
judge  of  the  law — to  bring  in  a  verdict  of  "  not  guilty." 
Hamilton  received  public  honors  for  the  service  he  had 
rendered.  A  blow  had  been  struck  in  the  cause  of  civil 
liberty.  When,  in  1736,  Clarke,  as  deputy  governor,  was 
in  authority,  the  Assembly,  in  their  response 
to  his  address,  used  plain  language.  It  said  to  dent  spirit*  5 
him  :  "  You  are  not  to  expect  that  we  either  will the  Aeeembly- 
raise  sums  unfit  to  be  raised,  or  put  what  we  shall  raise 
into  the  power  of  a  Governor  to  misapply,  if  we  can  pre 
vent  it ;  .  .  .  or  continue  what  support  or  revenue  we 
shall  raise  for  any  longer  time  than  one  year."  In  1739, 
the  Assembly  insisted  on  making  its  appropriations  spe 
cific,  and  on  naming  the  officials  to  whom  salaries  were 
voted.  It  was  during  the  administration  of  Clarke  that 
what  is  called  the  "Negro  Plot"  occurred.  The  ..Ne{rro 
There  were  several  fires  in  New  York  at  about  Plot." 
the  same  time.  Stories  were  started  that  they  were 
kindled  by  negroes.  The  people  became  possessed  with 
the  idea  that  there  was  a  plot  formed  by  the  blacks  to 


250  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

burn  the  town.  The  charge  had  no  better  foundation 
than  the  testimony  of  an  immigrant  woman,  bound  to 
service  to  the  keeper  of  a  low  tavern.  Large  rewards 
were  offered  to  slaves,  as  well  as  to  whites,  for  evidence 
leading  to  the  conviction  of  any  incendiary.  The  Gover 
nor,  in  a  proclamation  (May  13,  1741)  appointing  a  day  of 
prayer  on  account  of  the  war  with  Spain,  referred  also  to 
the  burning  of  dwellings  by  unknown  persons,  and  the 
consternation  occasioned  by  it.  The  negroes  were  all 
put  under  surveillance.  Every  effort  was  made  to  hunt 
up  proofs  and  elicit  confessions.  In  accordance  with  the 
judgment  of  the  court,  thirteen  blacks  were  burned  to 
death,  eighteen  were  hanged,  and  seventy  were  trans 
ported.  The  conspiracy  was  a  product  of  the  imagina 
tion.  In  the  excitement  of  the  public  mind  and  in  the 
lack  of  thorough  scrutiny  into  the  evidence,  this  delu 
sion  is  not  without  elements  of  likeness  to  the  witchcraft 
tragedy  in  Massachusetts. 

The  next  Governor  was  Admiral  George  Clinton, .sec 
ond  son  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln.  In  the  earlier  part  of 
Clinton  GOV-  hig  official  career,  he  gave  himself  up  to  the 
emor  (1741).  influence  of  the  Chief  Justice,  De  Lancey,  a 
shrewd  man,  the  leader  of  the  popular  party.  He  as 
sented  to  the  measures  favored  by  De  Lancey,  such  as 
the  appropriation  by  the  Assembly  of  money  for  one  year 
only.  He  found  that  his  concessions  did  not 

His   strug-       .,,..  .  .,  ,  .    ,    , 

gie  with  the  aid  him  in  carrying  other  measures  which  he 
Issembiy.  ^foft  to  nave  adopted.  When  he  attempted 
to  retrace  his  steps,  and  regain  the  ground  which  he  had 
given  up,  he  encountered  a  stubborn  resistance.  The  op 
position  of  the  Assembly,  no  doubt,  crippled  to  a  con 
siderable  extent  military  operations.  This  body  re 
fused  to  send  men  in  aid  of  the  expedition  that  captured 
Louisburg.  It  voted  contributions  of  cannon  and  money. 
Indians  made  an  attack  on  the  village  of  Saratoga,  which 


YORK    FROM    1688  TO    1756  251 

they  destroyed.  Their  atrocities  led  the  Assembly  to  take 
the  extreme  course  that  was  taken  in  Massachusetts  ; 
it  offered  a  large  bounty  for  Indian  scalps.  Clinton, 
in  his  political  troubles,  appealed  in  vain  to  the  King 
for  help  against  the  encroachments  of  the  Assembly.  It 
was  judged  that  they  might  be  due  to  his  personal  de 
fects.  When  he  retired  from  office,  he  caused  surprise 
by  delivering  a  commission,  as  Lieutenant-Governor,  to 
De  Lancey.  The  next  Governor,  Sir  Danvers  Osborne, 
committed  suicide  a  few  days  after  assuming  his  office. 
De  Lancey  presided  at  the  Congress  at  Albany  in  1754. 
The  scheme  of  union  gave  certain  powers,  The  Albat,y 
relating  principally  to  war,  Indians,  and  lands,  convention, 
to  a  body  of  delegates  from  the  colonies,  with  a  Presi 
dent  and  Council  appointed  by  the  King.  This  plan  was 
opposed  by  De  Lancey.  William  Johnson  Johnson's 
was  made  commander  of  the  military  expe 
dition  to  move  northward  from  Albany.  Johnson  had 
great  influence  over  the  allied  Indian  tribes.  He  had 
learned  their  ways,  and  had  won  their  regard  by  living 
for  a  while  with  the  Mohawks.  He  had  married  the 
daughter  of  Brant,  one  of  their  chiefs.  Johnson  pro 
ceeded  to  build  Fort  Edward,  near  the  Hudson.  There 
was  an  unfortunate  delay  in  his  movements,  owing  to  a 
quarrel  with  Shirley,  whom  he  attacked  in  his  despatches 
most  severely,  saying  that  his  conduct  "shook  the  system 
of  Indian  affairs."  At  length  he  marched  at  the  head  of 
three  thousand  four  hundred  men  to  the  southern  end  of 
Lake  George.  There  the  battle  took  place  in  which  Die- 
skau  and  his  forces  were  beaten.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
day  Johnson  was  severely  wounded,  so  that  the  direction 
of  the  fight  was  left  to  Lyman  of  Connecticut.  Johnson 
was  rewarded  by  being  made  a  baronet.  He  was  blamed, 
however,  by  many,  for  not  following  up  his  victory.  He 
was  deterred  from  doing  so  by  the  apprehension,  to  use 


252  TUP:  COLONIAL  ERA 

his  own  words,  that  the  enemy  might  have  "  considerable 
reinforcements  near  at  hand."  From  time  to  time,  the 
Assembly  of  New  York  made  large  issues  of 
y'  paper  money,  and  strenuously  withstood  pro 
posals  on  the  part  of  the  English  Government  to  deprive 
them  of  this  privilege.  They  took  the  ground  that  there 
was  not  coin  enough  in  the  province  to  serve  as  currency. 
In  1756,  it  was  concluded  to  have  a  permanent  English 
army  in  America,  and  the  Earl  of  Loudoun  was  appoint 
ed  its  general. 

Compared  with  New  England,  the  Middle  States  had 

the  advantage  of  a  milder  climate — a  climate  that  was 

free  alike  from  the  extremes  of  heat  and  of 

Character         ,,  ,  „      . ...          .,        _...  ,       .. .  „ 

of  the  Middle  cold — and  a  more  fertile  soil.  The  people  dif 
fered  from  the  New  Englanders  in  being  less 
homogeneous.  In  the  Middle  States,  except  New  Jersey, 
the  population  had  come  from  different  countries,  yet 
there  was  a  steady  progress  of  the  English  toward  the  ab 
sorption  of  other  elements,  or,  at  least,  that  complete  pre 
dominance,  as  regards  language  and  customs,  which  finally 
prevailed.  There  was  an  absence  in  the  social  life  of  these 
communities  of  the  Puritan  rigor  which  marked  the  insti 
tutions  and  ways  of  New  England  ;  and  with  this  absence, 
it  may  fairly  be  said,  there  were  wanting  certain  intellect 
ual  and  moral  gains,  which  were  the  concomitants  of  it. 

In  New  York,  the  Dutch  emigration,  for  the  most  part, 
came  to  an  end  with  the  conquest  by  the  English.  But 
Society  in  although  there  were  Huguenots  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  New  York,  and  Palatines  on  the  Hudson,  the 
population  of  the  colony  was  constituted  mainly  of  the 
Dutch  and  the  English.  By  the  English,  the  settlements 
on  the  western  border  of  Long  Island  were  early  made, 
and  they  continued  to  transplant  themselves  from  New 
England.  The  city  of  New  York  was  so  situated  that  it 


NEW   YORK    FROM   1688   TO   1756  253 

could  not  fail  to  become  a  centre  of  trade,  and  such  it 
has  always  continued  to  be.  The  traffic  in  furs  was  a 
principal  occupation  at  Albany.  From  the  banks  of  the 
Hudson,  and  from  Albany,  settlements  were  gradually 
planted  westward  along  the  fertile  and  beautiful  valley  of 
the  Mohawk.  Agriculture  was  the  principal  occupation  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  colony.  Manufactures,  begun  with 
considerable  energy  by  the  Dutch,  did  not  flourish.  The 
legal  profession  in  New  York  attained  to  no  high  stand 
ing,  and  the  medical  profession  was  in  a  still  lower  state. 
In  1665,  a  law  of  the  Duke  of  York  was  framed  to  pre 
vent  violence  in  the  treatment  of  patients.  The  Dutch 
and  the  English  dissenting  ministers  were 
worthy  of  respect,  both  for  their  learning  and 
character.  The  Dutch  clergy  held  the  same  theology  as 
their  dissenting  English  brethren,  but  were  less  sedate 
in  their  ways.  They  were  fond  of  lively  companionship,  yet 
maintained  their  place  as  oracles  in  their  villages.  Until 
near  the  close  01  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the  Eng 
lish  Church  adopted  a  different  policy,  toleration  was 
generally  practised,  the  exceptions  being  in  the  case  of  the 
Quakers,  and  in  that  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  toward 
whom  the  invasions  of  the  French  and  Indians  from  Can 
ada,  and  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits  there,  created  a  hos 
tile  feeling.  Under  the  Dutch  rule,  schools 
had  been  established,  and  received  aid  from 
government ;  but  after  the  English  conquest,  the  inter 
est  in  popular  education  dwindled,  and  the  schools  were 
given  up,  or  fell  into  decay. 

Slavery  existed  in  New  York,  as  in  the  other  northern 
colonies,  but  in  a  mild  form.  There  was  a  certain  prev 
alent  antipathy  to  the  blacks,  on  account  of 

..     .          ..    J          *;  ,  Social  classes. 

their  color,  and  occasionally,  as  we  have  seen, 
in  a  time  of  panic  they  were  cruelly  handled  ;  but  gen 
erally  they  were  well  treated.     Wealth,  even  when  re- 


254  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

cently  acquired,  conferred  social  importance  on  such  as 
possessed  it.  But  there  was  an  aristocracy  in  New  York 
of  a  peculiar  cast.  Above  the  ordinary  tradesmen  and 
small  farmers,  were  the  great  Dutch  landholders,  the  pa- 
troons,  whose  vast  country  estates  lay  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  the  Hudson,  and  who  formed  the  habit  of  build 
ing,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  houses  to  which  they  could 
resort  in  the  winter.  These  grandees  lived  in  a  princely 
fashion,  having  spacious  mansions,  a  luxurious  table,  a 
great  retinue  of  servants,  white  and  black  ;  celebrating 
marriages  and  funerals  with  feudal  magnificence,  and 
administering  justice  among  their  numerous  tenants. 
The  manors  of  the  Van  Rensselaers,  the  Cortlands,  and 
Livingstons  each  sent  a  delegate  to  the  Assembly.  Pro 
visions  were  made  of  such  a  character,  by  will  or  other 
wise,  that  large  manors  descended  to  the  oldest  son,  as 
if  there  had  been  a  law  of  entail.  Thus  the  influence  of 
the  ruling  families  was  perpetuated,  and  their  political 
power  was  transmitted  from  father  to  son.  The  ordinary 
farmers  were  well  off,  they  were  never  worn  oat  with 
toil,  were  quiet  and  unambitious,  and  content  to  live 
comfortably  from  the  produce  of  their  fertile  acres.  The 
farmers  of  English  descent  on  Long  Island  had  less  iner 
tia,  and  were  somewhat  more  contentious.  In  the  city 
of  New  York,  the  private  houses  were  well  built  and  well 
furnished,  but  the  public  edifices  were  inferior.  There 
sprung  up  in  that  city  a  more  fashionable  society  than 
existed  in  other  American  towns.  Money  was  freely 
spent  in  dress  and  entertainments.  Amusements,  such 
as  dancing  and  card-playing,  which  were  proscribed  in 
New  England,  were  favorite  sources  of  recreation. 


CHAPTEE   XV. 

NEW  JERSEY  FROM  1688  TO  1756 

New  Jersey  after  the  Revolution — New  Jersey  a  Royal  Province — 
Cornbury  and  the  Assembly — Hunter — Burnet— New  Jersey 
Separated  from  New  York — The  Elizabethtown  Claimants — 
The  Revival  in  New  Jersey — Social  Life. 

BY  the  overthrow  of  the  government  of  Andros,  and  the 
English  Revolution,  the  connection  of  New  Jersey  with 
New  York  was  broken  off.  For  ten  years  the 
political  condition  of  New  Jersey  bordered  on  afterThe^S? 
anarchy  ;  but  daring  this  period  the  Puritans  ° 
in  East  Jersey,  and  the  Quakers  in  West  Jersey  appear 
to  have  managed  their  affairs  through  their  town  organi 
zations,  and  generally  in  a  safe  and  orderly  way.  The  au 
thority  of  the  proprietaries  was  nominally  resumed,  but 
they  were  not  very  well  obeyed.  In  1692,  Andrew  Hamil 
ton  was  made  Governor  of  both  the  Jerseys.  The  dispute 
with  New  York  respecting  customs  was  opened  afresh, 
and  by  the  decision  in  a  law-suit  in  Westminster  Hall 
East  Jersey  won  its  cause  and  obtained  a  separate  custom 
house.  The  case  was  decided  during  the  rule  of  Basse, 
Hamilton's  successor.  The  title  of  the  proprietaries  was 
called  in  question,  the  people  petitioned  against  it,  and  ifc 
was  surrendered  by  them  to  Queen  Anne,  their 
property  in  lands  being  secured  to  them.  The  a  royal  urov- 
two  Jerseys  were  thus  finally  united  in  one 
province.  The  form  of  government  which  followed,  with 
Cornbury  for  its  first  Governor,  left  the  people  with 


256  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

less  liberty  than  they  had  been  in  the  habit  of  exercis 
ing.  The  Councillors  were  to  be  appointed  by  the 
Crown,  and  might  be  removed  by  the  Governor,  who 
was  to  send  his  reasons  to  England  for  taking  such  a 
step.  The  members  of  the  Lower  House  must  each 
possess  an  estate  of  a  thousand  acres,  and  were  to  be 
chosen  for  an  indefinite  time.  A  property  qualification 
for  voters  was  prescribed.  Religious  liberty  was  con 
ceded  to  all  "except  papists."  There  were  regulations 
for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  the  Anglican 
Church,  but  these  proved  inoperative  by  the  refusal  of 
the  Assembly  to  make  grants  for  the  purpose.  No  print 
ing  of  a  book  or  pamphlet  was  to  be  allowed  without  the 
Governor's  special  license.  The  Governor  and  Council 
were  to  be  a  Court  of  Chancery.  In  practice  the  Gov 
ernor  exercised  this  function  exclusively.  There  were 
religious  conflicts  in  New  Jersey  among  three  parties — 
Quakers,  Episcopalians,  and  the  Presbyterians  and  Con- 
gregationalists,  who  acted  together.  Cornbury,  by  his 
comburyand  mercenary  spirit,  lost  the  confidence  of  all. 
the  Assembly.  when  the  Assembly  refused  to  pass  his  militia 
bills  and  bills  for  the  grant  of  money,  he  removed  three  of 
its  members,  and  thus  obtained  a  body  willing  to  comply 
with  his  wishes.  He  was  confronted  by  the  spirited  op 
position  of  Samuel  Jennings,  the  Speaker.  He  dismissed 
Lewis  Morris,  an  able  man,  from  the  Council.  Morris 
presented  the  complaints  of  the  colony  against  him  to 
the  English  Secretary  of  State. 

Lovelace,  Governor  after  the    removal   of   Cornbury, 

died  soon  after  his  appointment.     With  the  conduct  of 

Ingoldsby,  a  rash  and  violent  man,  who  was 

left   in  power   after  the   death   of  Lovelace, 

there  was  no  satisfaction.     Yet  the  Assembly  voted  men 

and  money  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war  against  New 

France.      The    same    thing    was    done  under  Hunter. 


NEW   JERSEY   FROM    1688   TO    1756  257 

Bills  of  credit  were  issued,  according  to  the  custom  of 
the  other  colonies.  Hunter  supported  the  Quakers  and 
the  Dissenters,  in  opposition  to  the  Church-  Hunter 
men.  It  was  maintained  that  a  recent  law  of 
England,  requiring  an  oath  of  officers,  jurymen,  and  wit 
nesses  in  capital  cases,  was  binding  in  America.  The 
leader  against  the  Quakers  was  Daniel  Coxe,  Speaker  of 
the  Assembly  in  1716.  The  Chief  Justice  was  against  his 
view.  Hunter  took  the  same  ground.  He  was  charged 
by  Coxe  and  his  party  with  doing  an  illegal  act  in  calling 
the  Assembly  in  Arnboy,  where  it  had  met  in  the  previ 
ous  year,  instead  of  Burlington.  Hunter  was  successful 
in  the  new  Assembly,  and  obtained  the  grant  of  a  rev 
enue  for  three  years.  Coxe  failed  to  produce  any  effect 
by  his  complaints  to  the  Board  of  Trade. 

Through  the  early  portion  of  Burnet's  administration 
the  old  contest  on  the  question  of  temporary  or  perma 
nent  supplies  was  waged  between  between  the 
Assembly,  with  the  usual  consequences.     Fi 
nally,  he  consented  to  the  issue  of  forty  thousand  pounds 
in  bills  of  credit,  and  the  Assembly  continued  the  revenue 
act  for  five  years. 

The  quiet  state  of  things  under  Montgomerie  gave 
place  to  more  disturbed  relations  under  Cosby.  But 
in  1738,  when  the  separation  of  New  Jersey  from  New 
York  was  effected,  and  Lewis  Morris,  who  had  New  Jer. 
been  President  of  the  Council,  was  appointed  f/o^S 
Governor,  hopes  of  amity  between  the  different  York- 
branches  of  the  government  were  confidently  cherished. 
But  Morris,  although  he  had  been  a  popular  leader, 
adhered  to  his  instructions.  He  denied  his  assent  to 
bills,  such  as  the  bills  for  the  disposal  of  the  revenue 
by  the  Assembly,  which  that  body  insisted  on  as  the  con 
dition  of  voting  supplies.  No  agreement  was  reached 
between  the  conflicting  parties.  During  the  brief  time 
17 


258  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

when  John  Hamilton  acted  as  Governor,  after  the  death 
of   Morris,    the  Assembly   was   in    a  better  mood,    and 
voted  £10,000   to   equip   troops   for   the  Canada   expe 
dition.      John   Beading,   another   Councillor, 
held  power  next,  but  only  for  a  few  months. 
There  was  a  riot  at  Perth  Amboy,  which  was  one  event  in 
a  protracted  dispute  relating  to  the  lands  which  the  "  Eliz- 
abethtown  claimants"  held  through   convey- 

The  Eliza-  „  .n       T     _.  * 

b  e  t  h  t  o  w  n   ances  from  the  Indians  before  New  Jersey  was 
a  distinct  province.     These  disturbances  con 
tinued  after  Belcher  became  Governor.      Appeals  were 
made  to   the  authorities   in   England,  but  the    contro 
verted  points  were    left  undecided,   and  the  claimants 
1T4T-5T          remained  in  possession  of  their  farms.     Bel 
cher  shrewdly  yielded  to  the  Assembly  where 
he  saw  it  was  useless  to  contend,  but  stood  his  ground 
when  he  deemed  it  indispensable  to  do  so. 

The  Bevival,  of  which  Edwards  and  White  field  were 

the  most  distinguished  promoters,   extended   into  New 

Jersey.     Two  brothers,  Gilbert  and   William 

The  revival    m  ,1,1         «       i 

in  New  Jer-  lennent,  both  or  whom  were  forcible  preach 
ers,  were  prominent  in  evangelistic  efforts. 
The  germ  of  Princeton  College,  which  obtained  its  first 
charter  in  1746,  was  a  school,  or  "log  college,"  set  up  by 
the  father  of  the  Tennents,  at  Neshaminy,  twenty  miles 
north  of  Philadelphia.  The  Bevival  in  New  Jersey,  as  in 
New  England,  was  the  occasion  of  theological  and  eccle 
siastical  controversies.  Among  the  Presbyterians,  there 
was  a  conservative  party  in  which  the  influence  of  the 
Scottish  and  Irish  element  prevailed.  This  party  dis 
trusted  and  condemned  the  new  movement,  or  the  fruits 
of  it.  It  was  called  the  "  Old  Side."  The  "  New  Side,"  or 
the  "  New  Lights,"  who  earnestly  favored  the  Bevival,  were 
the  founders  of  the  College.  David  Brainerd,  whose  bi 
ography  was  written  by  Jonathan  Edwards,  labored  with 


NEW  JERSEY   FROM   1688  TO   1756  259 

zeal  and  success  as  a  missionary  among  the  Indians  at 
Crosweeksung,  near  Freehold. 

In  New  Jersey,  the  Swedish  and  Dutch  elements  in 
the  population,  compared  with  the  English  element,  by 
which  they  were  eventually  absorbed,  were  society  in 
small.  The  inhabitants  of  New  Jersey,  said  New  Jersey' 
Governor  Belcher,  "  are  a  very  rustical  people,  and  de 
ficient  in  learning."  They  lived  in  villages.  Their  occu 
pation  was  farming.  Some  distinction  was  enjoyed  by 
farmers  who  were  rich  enough  not  to  toil  with  their  own 
hands.  There  were  a  few  spacious  and  elegant  country- 
houses.  The  number  of  slaves  and  of  indentured  ser 
vants  was  small.  There  were  few  crimes  committed. 
The  New  England  element  gained  increasing  sway  in  po 
litical  and  social  life.  Various  New  England  customs 
were  adopted.  For  example,  the  care  of  paupers  was 
assigned  to  the  lowest  respectable  bidders  at  an  auction 
sale.  There  was  early  legislation  against  stage-plays, 
cock-fighting,  card-playing,  and  other  amusements  that 
were  specially  offensive  to  Puritans.  In  towns  settled 
by  New  Englanders,  schools  were  maintained.  The  col 
ony  was  indebted  to  the  Presbyterians  and  Congregation- 
alists  for  what  was  done  to  promote  the  education  of  the 
people. 


CHAPTEK  XVI. 

PENNSYLVANIA  AND  DELAWARE   FROM   1688   TO   1756 

Charges  Against  Penn — Disorder  in  Pennsylvania — "The  Counties" 
— George  Keith — The  Proprietary  Displaced—  Penn  Regains 
his  Province — He  Befriends  Negroes  and  Indians — New  Char 
ter  of  Privileges — The  Two  Parties — Evans — Evans  Recalled — 
Gookin — The  Assembly  against  Logan — Death  of  Penn — Ad 
ministration  of  Keith — Gordon — Anti -Quaker  Party — Opposi 
tion  to  the  Proprietaries — Franklin — Society  in  Pennsylvania — 
Physicians — Tradesmen — Philadelphia — Intellectual  Life. 

To  William  Penn  the  fall  of  James  II.  was  a  disastrous 
event.  James  had  always  been  his  friend  and  patron, 
charges  *n  *ne  las^  years  of  his  reign,  Penn  had  lived 
against  Penn.  afc  Kensington  and  had  kept  up  a  close  inti 
macy  at  the  Court.  It  was  well  known  that  he  was  fre 
quently  closeted  with  the  King.  On  the  issue  of  the 
Declaration  of  Indulgence,  he  had  led  a  deputation  of 
Quakers  in  the  presentation  to  James  of  an  address — 
which  Penn  himself  probably  wrote — conveying  thanks 
and  pledges  of  attachment.  When  the  King  fled,  Penn 
remained  in  London  and  deported  himself  in  a  manly 
way.  Humors  flew  in  all  directions  that  he  was  a  papist, 
a  Jesuit  in  disguise  who  had  studied  in  France  at  the 
Jesuit  Seminary  of  St.  Omer.  Even  Tillotson  gave  cred 
ence  to  these  charges  until  he  was  convinced  of  their  un 
truth  by  Penn's  emphatic  denial  of  them.  Peun  and  his 
brethren  might  be  pardoned  for  thanking  a  prince  for 
letting  out  of  prison  twelve  hundred  Quakers,  even  if  he 
stretched  the  royal  prerogative  in  doing  so.  As  to  the 
unconstitutionality  of  the  King's  Declaration,  all  that  the 


PENNSYLVANIA    AND    DELAWARE  2C1 

Quakers  afterward  could  say  was  that  in  their  address 
to  him  they  had  expressed  the  hope  that  by  the  concur 
rence  of  Parliament  his  policy  of  giving  freedom  to  con 
science  might  be  made  permanent.  The  Presbyterians 
and  some  other  non-conforming  bodies  had  in  like  man 
ner  offered  their  thanks  to  the  King  ;  and  similar  ad 
dresses  had  been  brought  to  him  by  Increase  Mather 
from  churches  and  ministers  in  Massachusetts  and  Ply 
mouth.  But  Penn's  asseverations  of  innocence  as  con 
cerns  any  sympathy  with  the  tenets  of  the  Eomish  Church, 
and  of  loyalty  to  William,  were  discredited  by  many. 
What  was  most  painful,  many  of  his  Quaker  brethren 
were  for  a  while  shaken  in  their  confidence  in  him.  Three 
times  he  was  brought  before  the  Privy  Council,  and,  after 
examination,  released.  He  now  made  extensive  and  costly 
preparations  to  conduct  to  his  colony  a  large  reinforce 
ment  of  emigrants.  But  after  he  barely  escaped  arrest, 
on  the  occasion  of  George  Fox's  funeral,  on  a  fourth  ac 
cusation,  which  rested  on  the  oath  of  a  worthless  per 
jurer,  he  gave  up  the  new  enterprise  and  lived  in  seclu 
sion,  although  remaining  in  London. 

Meantime  Penn's  colonial  government  became  a  prey 
to  disorder  and  faction.  An  able  popular  leader  arose  in 
the  person  of  David  Lloyd.  The  jealousy  be-  D^order  in 
tween  the  "  territories,''  the  Delaware  counties,  Pennsylvania. 
and  the  province  became  more  inflamed.  The  deputies 
of  the  counties  separated  from  the  Assembly  and  sat  as  a 
distinct  body,  under  Markham,  the  Lieutenant-  The  «.f;oun_ 
Governor.  In  the  province  itself,  party  feeling  ties-" 
was  intense.  There  were  now  a  great  many  settlers  who 
were  not  Quakers.  The  ascendency  of  the  Quakers  was 
menaced,  and  even  the  political  privileges  which 

'  x  *  George  Keith. 

they  shared  with  others  were  exposed  to  dan 
ger    by  the  movement  of  George  Keith,  who  had  been 
eminent  among  them  as  a  preacher  and  author.     This 


262  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

vehement  and  vociferous  demagogue  proclaimed  the  doc 
trine  that,  according  to  true  Quaker  principles,  members 
of  that  sect  ought  not  to  hold  office  as  magistrates  and 
take  part  in  executing  penal  laws.  He  was  arrested  for 
vilifying  the  magistrates.  His  imprisonment  raised  a 
cry,  which  made  itself  heard  in  England,  that  the  colony 
was  practising  the  intolerance  which  it  professed  to  hate. 
Keith  went  to  England,  became  an  Episcopalian,  and  en 
joyed  a  benefice.  The  result  of  these  occur- 
prietary  dis-  rences  was  that  the  rule  of  the  proprietary 
was  displaced,  and  Fletcher,  the  Governor  of 
New  York,  was  put  in  charge  of  the  province.  Fletcher 
remained  a  short  time  in  Philadelphia,  vainly  sought  to 
move  the  Assembly  to  appropriate  money  for  the  com 
mon  defence  on  the  northern  frontier,  and  addressed  re 
bukes  to  that  body  in  his  own  arrogant  style.  Fletcher 
had  called  the  Assembly  from  the  counties  and  the  prov 
ince,  and  had  proceeded  without  regard  to  the  charter 
and  the  system  of  laws.  Through  the  intercession  of  cer- 
Penn  regains  tain  noblemen,  friends  of  Penu,  his__innocence 
his  province.  wag  acknowledged,  and  in  1694  his  province 
was  restored  to  him.  Under  Markham,  the  -Lieutenant- 
Governor,  the  Assembly  proceeded  to  establish  its  own 
authority,  according  to  the  democratic  ideas  of 
its  leader.  In  consequence  of  strong  repre 
sentations  from  England,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by 
the  Governor  and  Council  against  illegal  trade  and  the 
harboring  of  pirates. 

On  Penn's   return  to  his  colony,  in  1699,  he  exerted 

himself,  with  his  usual  humane  spirit,  in  behalf  of  the 

rights  and  interests  of  negroes  and  Indians. 

He  befriends      T  ,  .   ,  „    , 

negroes  and  He  formed  a  treaty  with  a  company  01  torty 
chiefs  and  leading  men  of  the  Indian  tribes, 
including  a  brother  of  the  chief  of  the  Onondagas.     In 
formation  that  Parliament  was  preparing  to  abrogate  all 


PENNSYLVANIA    AND    DF.LAWAUE  263 

the  colonial  charters  obliged  him,  in  1701,  to  return  to 
England.  Before  leaving,  he  gave  the  colony  a  new  char 
ter  of  privileges.  He  wanted,  if  possible,  to  New  charter 
make  the  people  content,  and  to  appease  the  ofPnvi-eses- 
continued  wrangling  between  the  counties  and  the  prov 
ince.  The  Council  was  to  be  an  executive  body  in  con 
nection  with  the  Governor.  The  Assembly  was  to  meet 
annually,  and  to  initiate  legislative  measures.  The  ju 
diciary  was  left  to  be  regulated  by  the  Assembly.  This 
body  was  to  sit  on  its  own  adjournments,  and  not  to  be 
dissolved  during  the  term  for  which  it  was  chosen.  If 
the  Delaware  counties  should  so  desire,  there  were  to  be 
two  legislatures.  This  division  between  the  colonies  was 
carried  into  effect  in  1703.  Andrew  Hamilton,  of  New 
Jersey,  was  appointed  Deputy  Governor.  James  Logan, 
a  man  of  great  ability,  was  made  Secretary  by  Penn,  and 
also  agent  for  the  care  of  the  proprietary  estates.  As  time 
went  on,  there  was  a  more  definite  array  of  parties  for  and 
against  the  proprietary  government.  Hamilton  The  two  par. 
was  constantly  in  collision  with  the  popular 
party.  One  point  for  which  the  Assembly  persistently 
contended  was  its  right  to  sit  on  its  own  adjournments. 
Evans,  the  next  Governor,  a  young,  hot-headed  Welch- 
man,  was  under  the  influence  of  Logan.  He  wanted  to 
reunite  the  counties  to  the  province,  but  now 
tha  province  would  not  consent.  The  Penn 
sylvania  Assembly  carried  its  opposition  to  an  extreme, 
and  sent  to  Penn  himself  a  very  censorious  memorial.  It 
was  signed  by  Lloyd,  the  Speaker,  who  was  the  oracle  of 
the  popular  party.  It  harshly  arraigned  the  Founder  in 
a  series  of  accusations,  beginning  with  the  changes  made 
in  the  frame  of  government  at  the  second  Assembly, 
when,  in  the  place  of  a  treble  vote  in  the  council,  he  ac 
quired  a  negative  voice  upon  legislation.  Prominent 
among  the  subjects  of  reproach  was  the  power  given  to 


234:  THE   COLONIAL  ERA 

Evans  to  prorogue  their  body  without  its  consent.  Penn's 
calm  but  plain  answer  had  a  powerful  effect,  and  the  next 
Assembly  was  differently  composed  and  more  favorable 
to  the  proprietary  cause.  But  Evans  roused  against  him 
self  the  whole  Quaker  interest.  He  was  anxious  to  or 
ganize  a  militia.  In  order  to  stir  up  contempt  for  the 
Qoaker  doctrine  and  policy,  he  caused  the  whole  town  of 
Philadelphia  to  be  suddenly  alarmed  by  the  cry  that  an 
invading  force  of  Indians  was  approaching.  The  prin 
cipal  effect  of  this  foolish  manoeuvre  was  to  bring  dis 
grace  upon  himself.  He  caused  a  fort  to  be  built  at 
Newcastle,  which  demanded  a  toll  in  gunpowder  of  every 
vessel  that  passed  by.  He  was  driven  to  give  up  this 
exaction  by  a  bold  act  of  Hill,  a  Quaker  merchant,  who 
steered  his  vessel  by  the  fort,  and  being  followed  by  the 
leader  in  command  there,  contrived  to  seize  him  and  to 
deliver  him  to  Lord  Cornbury,  Governor  of  New  Jersey, 
who  was  at  Salem,  on  the  Delaware.  Cornbury  took  the 
side  of  the  captors  against  Evans.  There  was  a  heated 
controversy  respecting  the  Courts.  The  bill  drawn  by 
Lloyd,  the  popular  leader,  to  establish  a  judiciary  was 
rejected  in  England  by  the  Privy  Council.  The  Assem 
bly,  in  turn,  was  determined  that  Evans  should  not  es 
tablish  a  Chancery  Court  composed  of  the  Council.  The 
controversy  increased  in  bitterness.  The  Assembly 
sought  to  impeach  Logan,  who  was  deemed  to  be  the  main 
Evans  re-  pillar  of  the  Governor's  party.  One  source 
led'  of  the  unpopularity  of  Evans  was  his  loose 
morals.  In  1709,  Penn  was  induced  by  the  complaints 
of  the  Assembly  to  recall  him. 

The  Assembly  was  not  at  all  disposed  to  peace  when 

Gookin,  the  successor  of  Evans,  arrived.  When 

the  Governor  called  for  men  and  money  for 

the  colonial  expedition  against  the  French,  the  Assembly 

replied  that  "  the  raising  of  money  to  hire  men  to  fight 


PENNSYLVANIA    AND    DELAWARE  265 

(or  kill  one  another)  was  a  matter  of  conscience  to  them, 
and  against  their  principles  ; "  but  that  they  would  make 
a  present  to  the  Queen  of  £500.  He  had  asked  for  £4,000. 
When  requested  to  make  appropriations  for  the  Lieuten 
ant-Governor's  support,  they  replied  with  angry  reflec 
tions  on  the  Secretary,  and  added  that  people  were  not 
obliged  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  an  administration 
that  infringed  upon  their  liberties  and  afforded  no  re 
dress  for  their  wrongs.  As  the  Governor  was  instructed 
not  to  act  without  the  advice  of  the  Council,  the  wrath 
of  the  Assembly  was  directed  against  Logan, 

i  •<  •      •      i  ^  n-       i.   n  J       TheAssem- 

who  was  its  principal  member.    He  challenged  t>iy  against 
them   to   prosecute  his  impeachment.      They  Logan- 
arrested  him,  but  he  was  set  free  by  Gookin.     In  1710, 
Logan  went  to  England,  where  he  was  fully  sustained. 
A  long  and  pathetic  letter  of  Penn,  in  which  the  sacri 
fices  that  he  had  made  for  the  colony  were  set  forth, 
and  the  complaints  of  oppression  were   answered,  pro 
duced  a  decisive  effect.    The'new  Assembly  was  of  a  more 
accommodating  spirit.     They  voted  £2,000  for 
the  expedition  against  Canada.    Penn,  wearied 
with  the  dissensions  in  the  province,  with  a  heavy  burden 
of  debt  upon  him,  which  was  greatly  increased  by  the 
unfaithfulness  of  a  steward,  began  a  negotia- 

1719 

tion  for  the  sale  of  his  rights  to  the  Crown,  for 
which  he  was  to  receive  £12,000.  But  before  the  trans 
action  could  be  consummated,  he  suffered  the  first  of 
a  series  of  apoplectic  strokes,  which  enfeebled  his  mind 
and  disabled  him  from  business.  The  disagreements  of 
the  Governor  and  the  Assembly  had  been  quieted.  The 
views  of  the  latter  respecting  the  judiciary  were  allowed 
to  be  carried  into  effect.  But  after  an  interval,  the 
demonstrations  of  mutual  hostility  were  renewed.  One 
point  of  dispute  was  on  the  amount  of  salary  that  should 
be  voted  to  the  Governor.  Another  very  serious  diffi- 


266  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

culty  arose  from  his  refusal  to  qualify  Quakers  for  office, 
unless  they  took  the  oath.  These  and  other  grounds  of 
opposition  to  him  produced  his  recall.  The  strange  con 
duct  of  Gookin  is  to  be  ascribed  to  mental  unsoundness, 
which  did  not  distinctly  reveal  itself  until  after  his  retire 
ment  from  office. 

Sir  William  Keith  was  the  next  Governor.  The  next 
year  after  he  was  installed  in  office,  Penn  died.  The 
Death  of  terms  of  his  will  occasioned  a  suit  at  law 
Penn,  1718.  wnjcn  lasted  for  nine  years.  It  was  settled 
finally  that  his  proprietary  rights  were  left  to  the  three 
sons  of  his  second  wife. 

Keith  exhibited,  from  the  beginning,  a  demagogical 
spirit.  He  nattered  the  Assembly  and  fell  in  with  its 
Administra-  wishes.  The  Council,  and  Logan,  the  chief 
tion  of  Keith.  man  ^n  ft,  were  practically  set  aside.  The 
complimentary  addresses  exchanged  between  Keith  and 
the  Assembly  are  in  amusing  contrast  with  the  tone  of 
such  documents  under  the  former  Governors.  The  As 
sembly  allowed  him  to  set  up  a  Court  of  Chancery.  He 
combined  with  them  in  the  issue  of  a  paper  currency, 
which,  although  great  care  was  thought  to  be  taken  to 
prevent  ill  consequences,  was  the  initiation  of  a  policy 
extremely  disastrous  in  its  effects.  Keith  removed  his 
powerful  opponent,  Logan,  from  his  offices.  But  letters 
were  obtained  by  him  from  the  widow  of  William  Penn, 
and  from  the  proprietaries,  in  support  of  the  position 
taken  by  the  latter  respecting  the  powers  of  the  Council. 
In  1726,  Keith  was  superseded  by  another  Gov 
ernor,  Patrick  Gordon.  But  Keith  became  a 
member  of  the  Assembly,  where  his  factious  and  mischiev 
ous  course  lost  him  the  esteem  of  all  parties.  The  court 
that  he  had  erected  was  abolished.  In  Gordon's  time 
there  was  a  large  immigration  of  Germans.  Trade  and 
commerce  nourished.  When  he  died,  Logan,  previously 


PENNSYLVANIA    AND    DELAWARE  267 

famous  as  a  conservative  leader,  was  Governor  for  two 
years.  Under  his  successor,  George  Thomas,  who  had 
been  a  planter  on  the  island  of  Antigua,  the  boundary 
dispute  with  Maryland  was  settled.  It  was 
difficult  to  avoid  controversies  in  reference  to 
military  matters,  on  account  of  the  peculiar  principles  of 
the  Quakers.  Trouble  sprung  up  between  the  Governor 
and  the  Assembly  on  the  breaking  out  of  war  between 
England  and  Spain.  Thomas  gave  great  offence  by  en 
listing  bought  or  indented  apprentices.  As  in  similar 
conflicts  elsewhere,  the  Governor  would  refuse  his  as 
sent  to  Acts  of  the  Assembly,  and  by  way  of  reprisal  the 
Assembly  would  withhold  his  salary. 

In  studying  the  history  of  Pennsylvania  in  the  eigh 
teenth  century,  it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  that  the 
laws  framed  in  this  period  were  often  widely  diverse  in 
their  tenor  and  spirit  from  the  legislation  of  Penn.  His 
work,  in  many  particulars,  instead  of  being  allowed  to 
bear  its  proper  fruit,  was  set  aside. 

The  party  not  in  sympathy  with  the  Quakers,  and  thor 
oughly  adverse  to  their  policy,  was  growing  in  strength. 
On  one  occasion,  in  1742,  there  was  an  election  Ant 
riot  in  Philadelphia,  in  wliich  sailors  from  the      er 
ships  on  the  Delaware  took  an  active  part,  but  which 
was  supposed  to  have  been  stirred  up  by  party  leaders. 
Owing  to  the  spirit  that  prevailed  in  the  Assem 
blies,  and  the  strife  of  factions,  the  province 
lent  comparatively  small  aid  to  the  colonial  cause  in  the 
war  with  France. 

James  Hamilton,  the  successor  of  Thomas,  was  a  son  of 
the  eminent  barrister.  He  refused  his  assent 

.      ,  .,,         •_•  i     i*  i  ji  -i-i        Opposition 

to  bills  which  did  not  secure  the  proprietaries    to  the  pro- 
right  to  the  interest  of  loans.     He  refused  to  prie 
sanction  the  further  issue  of  paper  money.     Under  the 
next  following  Governors,  Morris  and  Denny,  in  legisla- 


268  THE   COLONIAL   ETJA 

tive  matters,  the  wheels  were  blocked  by  the  instructions 
of  the  proprietaries  to  their  deputies.  But  in  the  case 
of  Denny,  a  selfish  motive  was  predominant.  He  repaid 
the  action  of  the  Assembly  in  relation  to  his  salary 
by  refusing  his  assent  to  their  bills.  As  the  great  war 
with  the  French  drew  near,  and  partly  in  consequence  of 
the  extension  of  settlements  westward,  the  relations  of 
the  colony  with  the  Indians  became  at  once  more  im 
portant  and  more  critical.  Large  expenditures  for  the 
maintenance  of  treaties  and  to  prepare  for  defence  be 
came  requisite.  It  was  deemed  just  that  the  great  es 
tates  of  the  proprietaries  should  be  subject,  like  other 
landed  property,  to  taxation.  This  end  was  not  secured 
until  the  mission  of  Franklin  to  England,  in  1757,  in 
behalf  of  the  claim  of  the  colony,  substantially  accom 
plished  its  purpose.  In  an  extended  "Historical  Review 
of  the  Constitution  and  Government  of  Pennsylvania 
from  its  Origin  " — which,  if  it  was  written  mainly  by  an 
other  hand,  was  published  with  his  countenance  and  sym 
pathy — an  elaborate  attack  is  made  on  the  proprietary 
government.  Even  the  proceedings  of  Penn  himself  are 
discussed  with  unsparing  severity. 

Benjamin  Franklin  gradually  rose  from  the  position 
of  a  printer's  boy  to  be  the  chief  man  in  the  colony.  In 
1723,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  had  come 
from  Boston  to  Philadelphia.  By  his  indus 
try,  sobriety,  and  talents,  he  acquired  a  constantly  in 
creasing  influence.  He  became  the  clerk,  and  then  a 
member,  of  the  Assembly.  He  originated  many  plans  for 
the  benefit  of  the  community.  The  foundation  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of  the  American  Philo 
sophical  Society,  was  due  to  him.  In  1754,  he  was  the 
leading  commissioner  in  the  convention  at  Albany  for 
the  formation  of  a  union  with  the  colonies. 

Bancroft  estimates  the  population  of  Pennsylvania  and 


PENNSYLVANIA   AND   DELAWARE  269 

Delaware,  in  1754,  at  one  hundred  and  ninety-five  thou 
sand.  The  two  colonies  were  much  alike  in  their  social 
characteristics.  The  legislature  consisted  of  Society  m 
one  house,  and  the  power  of  refusing  com-  Pennsylvania, 
pliance  with  its  acts  had  fallen  into  abeyance.  Judges, 
though  named  by  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  were,  like 
him,  dependent  on  the  legislature  for  their  salaries,  and 
these  were  determined  by  vote  each  year.  The  large 
variety  of  products,  and  the  nascent  manufactures,  made 
a  great  difference  between  Pennsylvania  and  the  South 
ern  colonies.  The  courts  of  law,  as  far  as  the  qualifica 
tions  of  the  judges  and  of  lawyers  are  concerned,  were 
above  the  ordinary  colonial  standard.  The  strongest 
sects  were  the  Quakers,  the  Lutherans,  and  the  Presbyte 
rians  ;  but  although  Sabbath  laws  were  strictly  enforced, 
religious  freedom  continued  to  be  accorded  to  all.  The 
smaller  degree  of  control  enjoyed  by  the  clergy  was  a 
point  of  contrast  both  with  Virginia  and  New  England. 
Medical  practitioners  in  Pennsvlvania  were 

, . ,  ,,  ,.„     T    »        11     •  f  Physicians. 

comparatively  well  qualified  for  their  profes 
sion.  In  Philadelphia,  medical  science  was  early  culti 
vated,  and  before  the  expiration  of  the  period  which  we 
are  considering,  a  beginning  was  made  in  the  publication 
of  medical  writings.  A  hospital  was  founded  in  1750, 
and  ten  years  later  medical  lectures  were  given  by  Dr. 
"William  Shippen.  Tradesmen  were  very  nu- 

T    ,,  ,—  ,,    ,      .    a  tii-         Tradesmen. 

merous,  and  they  made  their  influence  felt  in 
the  community.  The  owners  of  large  estates,  and  wealthy 
merchants,  were  not  without  a  certain  distinction.  There 
was  an  aristocratic  class  in  which  were  represented  such 
families  as  the  Pembertons,  the  Logans,  and  the  Morris 
es.  The  slaves  were  mostly  domestic  servants.  Slavery 
was  generally  condemned  by  the  Quakers.  Manumitted 
slaves,  and  the  large  class  of  indented  apprentices,  were 
often  offenders  against  the  law,  and  affected  unfavorably 


270  THE   COLONIAL   l^RA 

the  morals  of  the  community.  There  was  a  great  contrast 
between  Philadelphia  and  the  adjacent  district,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  farming  class  on  the  western  borders  of  the 
province,  on  the  other.  The  latter  class  were  rough  and 
ignorant,  lacking  in  public  spirit,  and  blending  supersti 
tious  notions  with  coarse  standards  of  moral  conduct. 
But  the  intermediate  farming  class,  the  Scotch-Irish 
and  Germans  in  the  middle  region,  were  quite  different 
from  the  frontier  population.  They  were  of  a  much 
higher  grade  of  intelligence.  The  Germans,  unlike  as 
they  might  be  in  manners  to  the  people  of  English  de 
scent,  were  not  deficient  either  in  intellect  or  in  religious 
sincerity.  The  Scotch-Irish,  however  dogmatic  and  in 
tolerant  in  their  zeal  for  the  Presbyterian  creed,  cher 
ished  the  Bible  and  established  schools. 

In  1749  there  were  in  Philadelphia  eighteen  hundred 
and  sixty-four  houses,  and  eleven  places  of  worship.  In 
1753,  it  contained  fourteen  thousand  five  hun- 
u  dred  and  sixty-three  inhabitants.  The  city 
grew  rapidly.  In  1769  the  number  of  houses  was  thirty- 
three  hundred  and  eighteen.  In  the  middle  of  the  cen 
tury,  the  simple  but  comfortable  style  of  living  which 
prevailed  was  assuming  a  higher  degree  of  refinement. 
As  wealth  was  increasing,  there  was  more  luxury  seen  in 
the  structure  of  the  dwellings  and  in  their  furniture,  and 
in  the  style  of  entertainments.  An  English  theatrical 
company  was  licensed  in  1754  to  act  plays  not  open  to 
censure  on  the  score  of  indecency,  but  no  building  was 
erected  for  the  purpose  until  some  years  later.  Even  then 
the  project  was  strenuously  opposed. 

Among   the   associates   of  Penn,  James  Logan  was   a 
intellectual    scholar  as  well  as  a  politician.     He  translated 
life.         Cicero's    treatise    on    "Old    Age,"    and    be 
queathed  his  large  and  well-chosen  library  to  the  city  of 
Philadelphia.     Andrew  Bradford,  the  first  printer,  estab- 


PENNSYLVANIA    AND   DELAWARE  271 

lished,  in  1719,  the  first  newspaper  in  Philadelphia,  The 
American  Mercury.  Fifteen  years  before,  The  News  Let 
ter  had  appeared  in  Boston.  A  group  of  young  mechan 
ics  and  clerks  joined  Franklin,  then  a  master-printer,  in 
forming  the  "  Junto,"  a  debating  society  for  the  discussion 
of  questions  in  morals,  politics,  and  natural  philosophy. 
By  Franklin's  exertions  a  public  library  was  begun  in 
1731.  In  1743,  a  Philosophical  Society  was  formed,  the 
predecessor  of  organizations  of  the  same  character  which 
are  widely  known.  At  this  time  David  Bittenhonse  was 
a  boy  eleven  years  old.  In  subsequent  years  he  rose  to 
distinction  as  a  mathematician  and  astronomer.  Franklin 
commenced  the  publication  of  "Poor  Richard's  Almanac," 
in  which  he  incorporated  in  telling  aphorisms  his  practi 
cal  wisdom.  It  furnished  reading  even  for  the  class  of 
people  who  read  nothing  else,  was  sold  at  the  rate  of  ten 
thousand  copies  a  year,  and  continued  to  be  issued  for 
about  twenty-five  years.  More  and  more,  Philadelphia 
became  a  centre  of  literature  and  science.  Boston  and 
Philadelphia  were  at  the  head  of  American  towns. 


CHAPTER  XVH. 

MARYLAND  FROM  1688  TO  1756 

The  Revolution  in  Maryland— Overthrow  of  the  Proprietary  Gov 
ernment — Intolerance  in  Maryland  — Nicholson— Proprietary 
Government  Restored — Maryland  in  1751. 

ALL  the  attempts  of  Baltimore  to  retain  the  govern 
ment  of  his  province  after  the  accession  of  William  and 
Mary  were  of  no  avail.  The  circumstance  that, 
inthfon6Tn  although  he  was  a  Eoman  Catholic,  he  had  re- 
Maryiand.  cejved  no  favors  from  James,  who  preferred  to 
forward  the  interests  of  Penn,  did  not  help  him.  The 
Maryland  officials  were  in  sympathy  with  the  exiled  mon 
arch.  Joseph,  the  President  of  the  Council,  hesitated 
about  proclaiming  the  new  sovereigns,  an  act  which  New 
England  and  Virginia  had  not  delayed  to  do.  The  insnr- 
rection  of  Protestants,  headed  by  Coode,  mustered  a  force 
strong  enough  to  disarm  opposition.  The  State  House 
and  records  at  St.  Mary's  were  surrendered  to  the  "  As- 
sociators,"  as  they  called  themselves,  and  the  fort  on  the 
Patuxent,  to  which  Joseph  and  the  Council  retired,  was 
given  up  at  the  demand  of  Coode,  and  of  his  numerous 
armed  followers.  They  boasted  in  their  address  to  the 
King  and  Queen  that  they  had  rescued  the  government 
of  Maryland  from  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of  the  new  sov 
ereigns  "  without  the  expense  of  a  drop  of  blood."  The 
belief  that  there  was  a  "  papist  plot,"  and  that  an  attack 
ing  force  of  French  and  Indians  was  on  its  way  to  seize 
the  colony,  spread  among  the  inhabitants.  Coode  and 


MARYLAND   FROM    1688  TO   1756  273 

some  of  the  other  leaders  knew  that  this  story  was  false, 
but  it  was  believed  by  those  ill-informed.  It  was  a 
counterpart  of  the  circumstances  in  New  York,  with  the 
difference  that  Leisler  was  honest,  while  Coode  was  a 
knave.  The  insurgents  were  supported  apparently  by  a 
large  majority  of  the  people.  The  petitions  to  William  and 
Mary  from  Coode  and  his  coadjutors,  to  be  delivered  from 
the  proprietary  rule,  represented  that  the  peo-  overthrow 
pie  were  the  victims  of  an  unbearable  tyranny.  etViy^vSn- 
When  later  they  were  called  on  to  specify  their  ment- 
grievances,  they  could  allege  nothing  substantial.  But 
their  prayers  fell  in  with  what  was  now  the  settled  pol 
icy  in  England,  to  make  the  colonies  royal  provinces. 
Moreover,  in  the  great  struggle  with  Louis  XIV.,  on  the 
issue  of  which  might  depend  the  continuance  of  Will 
iam's  reign,  it  was  felt  to  be  not  safe  to  leave  Maryland 
in  the  hands  of  a  Roman  Catholic  ruler.  The  dangers 
which  England  had  escaped,  from  the  ecclesiastical  con 
nections  and  purposes  of  James  II.,  gave  new  life  and 
vigor  to  the  antagonism  to  the  Roman  Church.  Little 
heed  was  paid  to  Baltimore's  defence  of  himself  and  of 
his  government.  A  suit  was  begun  to  deprive  him  of  the 
province,  and  William,  following  the  opinion  of  Chief 
Justice  Holt,  that  he  was  not  obliged  to  wait  for  the  slow 
progress  of  the  legal  proceeding,  answered  the  petition 
of  the  "  Associators/'  and  created  a  royal  government. 
Early  in  1692,  Sir  Lionel  Copley,  appointed  Governor, 
arrived  in  Maryland.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century,  Mary 
land  continued  to  be  a  royal  province.  Baltimore  was 
left  in  possession  of  the  property  rights  which  pertained 
to  him  as  Proprietary. 

The  most  active  promoters  of  the  movement  for  the 

subversion  of  the  proprietary  government,  were  attached 

to  the  Church  of  England,  although  the  members  of  that 

Church  were  a  small  minority  of  the  population.     The 

18 


274  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

principal  sufferers  by  the  change  were  the  Quakers,  and,  in 
a  much  higher  degree,  the  Roman  Catholics.  The  relig- 
into'.erance  ^ous  services  of  the  Roman  Catholics  were  for- 
in  Maryland,  bidden,  and  their  further  immigration  into 
the  colony  was  prohibited.  The  danger  of  the  restora 
tion  of  the  Jacobite  rule  in  England,  which  gave  rise  to 
the  prescriptive  measures  against  Roman  Catholics  there, 
had  a  like  effect  in  Maryland.  There  was  toleration  for 
Protestant  dissenters  from  the  Church  of  England,  and 
gradually  the  laws  which  abridged  their  rights  and  privi 
leges  were  partially  relaxed.  But  the  first  Assembly  af 
ter  Copley's  arrival  made  the  Church  of  England  the  es 
tablished  religion,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  colony 
were  subject  to  taxation  for  its  support.  Puritan  intol 
erance  was  an  episode  in  the  course  of  the  history  of 
Maryland,  and  lasted  only  for  a  few  years.  It  was  put 
down  by  the  restoration  of  Baltimore  to  his  authority. 
But  the  Episcopalian  intolerance  was  of  long  duration. 
It  created  hostile  feelings  among  the  people,  which  paved 
the  way  for  the  course  taken  by  the  province  in  the  rev 
olutionary  struggle  of  1776. 

The  most  vigorous  of  the  royal  governors  was  Francis 
Nicholson.  He  was  a  champion  of  the  Protestant  inter 
est.  He  removed  the  capital  from  St.  Mary's 
to  the  Puritan  settlement  which  was  afterward 
called  Annapolis.  But  he  tried  to  introduce  an  Act  of 
Uniformity,  like  that  which  in  England  preceded  the 
Act  of  Toleration.  His  measure,  although  passed  by  the 
Provincial  Assembly,  was  vetoed  by  the  Crown.  The  An 
glican  ministers  were  often  men  of  profligate  lives.  The 
Bishop  of  London  sent  out,  as  "  commissary  "  of  Maryland, 
Rev.  Thomas  Bray,  a  man  of  earnest  piety.  Yet  Bray 
tried  to  procure  the  enactment  of  a  law  requiring  the 
Prayer-book  to  be  used  in  every  place  of  worship  in  the 
province.  Coode  had  taken  orders  in  England,  but  he 


MARYLAND    FROM   1G8S   TO    175G  275 

renounced  the  ministry,  and  became  a  noisy  advocate  of 
infidelity.  What  disaffection  there  was  with  Nicholson 
rallied  about  him  as  a  leader  ;  but  he  was  worsted  and 
driven  out  of  the  colony. 

The  son  of  Charles,  the  third  Lord  Baltimore,  re 
nounced  Catholicism,  and  on  the  death  of  his  father  was 
recognized  as  Proprietary.  But  he  soon  died,  pro  rietar 


leaving  an  infant  son,  Charles,  the  fifth  baron 
of  Baltimore.  In  1715,  the  laws  of  Maryland 
were  revised  and  formed  into  a  code.  The  growing 
spirit  of  freedom  was  manifested  when,  in  1722,  the  lower 
housa  passed  a  series  of  resolutions,  affirming  that  the 
common  law  and  such  statutes  of  England  as  "  are  not 
restrained  by  words  of  local  limitation,"  together  with 
the  acts  of  the  local  Assembly,  are  the  standard  of  gov 
ernment  and  judicature  in  Maryland.  The  upper  house 
and  the  Proprietary  denied  their  assent  to  the  resolu 
tions.  For  many  years  there  was  not  much  to  disturb 
the  quiet  current  of  political  life.  Yet  there  were  re 
peated  and  partially  successful  efforts  to  control  the  rev 
enues  of  the  Proprietary7,  and  to  abridge  his  prerogatives. 
In  1751,  Frederick,  the  sixth  and  last  of  the  Baltimores, 
inherited  tho  province.  He  was  an  unworthy  man,  ad 
dicted  to  vice.  Maryland  did  not  usually  exhibit  any 
earnest  disposition  to  co-operate  with  the  other  colonies 
in  the  warfare  against  the  French  and  Indians.  She  sent, 
however,  delegates  to  the  Albany  Convention  of  1754. 
When  Horatio  Sharpe  became  Governor,  in  1753,  he  set 
about  strenuous  efforts  to  obtain  grants  of  money  for  the 
military  struggle.  The  Assembly  exacted  a  compliance 
with  conditions,  one  of  which  was  apt  to  be  some  new 
measure  adverse  to  the  Roman  Catholics,  whose  taxes 
were  doubled,  and  another  was  that  the  burden  of  pub 
lic  expenses  should  be  shared  by  the  Proprietary,  and 
drawn  from  his  large  revenues,  amounting  to  seventy-five 


276  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

hundred  pounds  annually.  Dislike  of  the  proprietary 
system  of  government  was  obviously  a  principal  ground 
of  such  proceedings.  The  policy  of  the  Assembly,  except 
now  and  then,  when  there  was  imminent  danger,  was  one 
of  obstruction.  Even  Braddock's  defeat  failed  to  call  out 
any  effective  measures  of  attack  and  defence. 

The  population  of  Maryland  in  1751  is  estimated  to 
have  been  about  one  hundred  and  forty-five  thousand.  In 
Maryland  in  this  number  were  comprised  a  great  number 
i75i.  Of  «  redemptioners  "  —  immigrants  who  had 
been  bound  to  labor  for  a  term  of  years  in  order  to  pay 
their  passage  across  the  ocean,  and  many  thousands  of 
transported  convicts.  Baltimore  was  laid  out  in  1730, 
but  after  twenty  years  was  still  but  a  small  village. 


CHAPTER  XVm. 

VIRGINIA  FROM  1688  TO  1756 

The  Revolution  in  Virginia— The  Governors  and  the  Burgesses — 
William  and  Mary  College — James  Blair — Governor  Spotswood 
— His  Dispute  with  the  Burgesses— His  Journey  over  the  Blue 
Ridge— New  Immigrants— The  Churches— Slavery — The  Rich 
Planters — Dimviddie — The  Ohio  Company — English  and  French 
Claims — Dinwiddie  and  the  Burgesses — George  Washington— 
An  Adjutant-General:  A  Messenger  to  the  French:  At  Great 
Meadows:  An  Aid  of  Braddock — Defeat  of  Braddock — The 
Retreat— Washington  at  Winchester— Washington  Visits  Boston. 

THE  joy  that  was  felt  in  Virginia  at  the  accession  of 
James  II.  had  given  way  to  discontent  and  wrath.  He 
sent  over  to  the  colony  the  captives  taken  in 
the  Monmouth  rebellion.  His  Governors,  Cul- 
pepper  and  Howard  of  Effingham,  came  out  8 
to  make  their  fortunes.  They  ruled  after  the  example 
of  their  royal  master.  In  the  closing  days  of  James's 
reign  there  were  rumors,  as  in  New  York  and  Maryland, 
of  a  popish  plot  in  the  colony,  and  of  an  impending  in 
vasion  of  French  and  Indians.  Protestant  feeling  was 
aroused,  the  Church  of  England  was  thought  to  be  in 
peril,  and  there  were  symptoms  of  a  popular  rising. 
Effingham  went  back  to  England  in  1688.  When  he 
arrived  there,  James  had  already  fled  for  France.  The 
Revolution  passed  by  in  Virginia  without  any  very  marked 
consequences.  Effingham  preferred  to  stay  in  England  ; 
yet  he  continued  to  hold  his  office,  and  Francis  Nicholson, 
the  same  from  whom  Leisler  had  wrested  the  government 


278  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

in  New  York,  was  commissioned  as  his  Deputy.  For  a 
long  time,  partly  owing  to  the  Bacon  rebellion,  there  was 
a  kind  of  political  apathy,  which,  however,  was  in  a  meas 
ure  broken  up  on  the  approach  of  the  close  of  the  period 
which  we  are  considering,  the  eve  of  the  final  war  with 
France.  Then  there  were  circumstances  adapted  to  pro 
voke  a  conflict  on  the  part  of  the  Burgesses 
nors  and  the  with  the  royal  Governor.  Before  that  time, 
the  popular  house,  to  be  sure,  teased  the  Gov 
ernors  by  opposition  on  many  points  of  no  vital  impor 
tance.  The  people  and  their  leaders  were  acquiring  a 
political  training,  the  effects  of  which  were  apparent  at  a 
later  day.  One  ground  why  there  was  less  collision  be 
tween  the  royal  officers  and  the  Burgesses  than  occurred 
elsewhere  between  the  Governors  and  Assemblies,  was 
the  fact  that  in  Virginia  the  quit-rents  and  other  regular 
sources  of  the  revenues  of  the  King  were  generally  suf 
ficient  to  carry  on  the  government  without  the  need  of 
large  grants  of  money. 

Nicholson,  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  was  ill-tempered 
and  arbitrary.  After  two  years  he  gave  place  to  Andros, 
who  was  commissioned  as  Governor.  He  signalized  him 
self,  as  he  had  done  elsewhere,  by  his  strictness  in  en 
forcing  the  Navigation  Acts.  He  held  the  office  for  six 
years.  Then  Nicholson  returned  as  Governor.  In  1693, 
mainly  by  the  efforts  of  Rev.  James  Blair,  a 
and  Mary  charter  was  obtained  for  William  and  Mary 
College,  which  received  an  endowment  from 
their  Majesties,  for  whom  it  was  named.  It  was  placed 
at  Middle  Plantation.  It  is  the  second  in  age  among  the 
American  colleges,  Harvard  being  the  oldest,  and  Yale 
being  the  third  in  the  order  of  time.  The  first  Commence 
ment  of  William  and  Mary  was  held  in  1700,  the  year  in 
which  Yale  was  founded.  In  1698,  Nicholson  removed 
the  capital  from  the  ruined  village  of  Jamestown  to  Mid- 


VIRGINIA    FROM   1688  TO   1756  279 

die  Plantation,  which  now  received  the  name  of  Williams- 
burg,  and  in  honor  of  the  King  and  Queen  was  laid  out 
in  the  form  of  a  W  and  M  combined.  Nicholson  was  an 
ambitious  man,  not  deficient  in  courage  ;  but  his  irascible 
temper  drove  him  into  undignified  brawls.  Like  Andros, 
he  found  an  antagonist  whom  he  could  not  manage,  in 
the  person  of  B^.jj.  Blair  was  a  Scotchman 
by  birth,  and  was  ordained  in  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  Scotland,  but  removed  to  England.  He  was 
intelligent,  energetic,  of  a  combative  disposition,  but 
sincerely  religious,  and  he  had  at  heart  the  public  good. 
Sent  over  to  Virginia  by  the  Bishop  of  London  to  look 
after  the  moral  and  religious  interests  of  the  colony,  he 
wfas  appointed,  a  few  years  later,  the  Bishop's  commis 
sary,  which  gave  him  the  highest  ecclesiastical  authority 
there,  and  made  him  ex  officio  member  of  the  Council. 
He  was  indefatigable  in  the  work  of  obtaining  the  charter 
of  the  College.  He  was  not  discouraged  by  the  rough  re 
mark  of  the  Attorney-General  Seymour,  who  thought  that 
the  money  needed  for  the  College  might  better  be  spent 
in  the  war  with  France.  "  The  people  of  Virginia  have 
souls  to  be  saved,"  said  Blair,  "  as  well  as  the  people  of 
England."  "  Souls  ! "  exclaimed  Seymour  ;  "  damn  their 
souls  !  Make  tobacco  !  "  In  the  contest  with  Nicholson, 
as  with  Andros,  the  influence  of  Blair  in  England  ex 
ceeded  the  influence  of  these  officials.  There  was  a  gain 
for  religious  freedom  in  the  extension — not  voluntary,  but 
compelled  by  orders  from  England — of  the  benefits  of  the 
English  Toleration  Acts  to  Dissenters.  Non-attendance 
on  church  once  in  a  month,  or  in  the  case  of  Dissenters, 
on  one  of  their  own  licensed  chapels  once  in  the  same 
period,  was  punished  by  a  fine  of  five  shillings. 

In  1704,  the  Earl  of  Orkney  was  appointed  Governor. 
But  the  office  was  for  him  a  sinecure.  He  never  set  foot 
in  the  province.  Of  the  salary  of  £2,000,  £1,200  went 


280  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

into  his  pockets,  and  the  remaining  £800  went  to  the 
Lieutenant-Governor.  Orkney  held  his  office  for  forty 
years.  Edward  Nott  was  his  first  Deputy.  Hunter,  who 
was  designated  as  Nott's  successor,  and  whom  Dean  Swift 
had  thoughts  of  accompanying  in  the  character  of  Bishop 
of  Virginia,  received  another  appointment.  In  1710, 
Governor  Alexander  Spots  wood  came  out  as  Governor, 
spotswood.  He  wag  a  Scotchman  by  birth  ;  he  had  been  a 
soldier,  and  had  received  a  wound  at  the  battle  of  Blen 
heim.  He  brought  with  him  a  concession  of  the  right  of 
habeas  corpus,  and  this  rendered  his  welcome  the  more 
warm.  The  constant,  but  ineffectual,  desire  of  the  people 
was  to  obtain  a  recognition  of  the  rights  of  Virginians  to 
the  privileges  of  Englishmen  under  the  Magna  Charta  and 
the  common  law.  Spotswood  wrote  home  :  "  This  gov 
ernment  is  in  perfect  peace  and  tranquillity,  under  a  due 
obedience  to  the  royal  authorit}*,  and  a  gentlemanly  con 
formity  to  the  Church  of  England."  But  he  was  soon 
out  of  patience  with  the  Burgesses  for  not  ap- 

His  disputes  .  *\  j.    i  •         i  /. 

with  the  Bur-  propriatmg  money  to  carry  out  his  plan  of 
military  organization.  He  sometimes  lectured 
the  house  like  an  angry  schoolmaster,  at  one  time  charac 
terizing  its  members  as  a  set  whom  "Heaven  has  not  gen 
erally  endowed  with  the  ordinary  qualifications  requisite 
to  legislators."  But  he  fell  out,  also,  with  the  Council, 
which  in  its  composition  represented  the  aristocratic  tone 
of  the  upper  class  that  was  growing  up  in  Virginia  soci 
ety.  He  was  in  general  sustained  by  the  home  govern 
ment,  but  could  not  get  leave  to  dismiss  the  obnoxious 
councillors.  Blair,  the  commissary,  refused  to  be  con 
trolled  by  him  in  reference  to  ecclesiastical  affairs.  In 
the  Church,  the  parish  vestries  insisted  on  retaining  their 
power,  and  when  it  was  decided  that  a  minister  once  in 
ducted  into  his  office  could  hold  it  for  life,  they  employed 
their  ministers  without  any  form  of  induction.  Spots- 


VIRGINIA   FROM    1688   TO   1756  281 

wood  was  interested  in  the  work  of  christianizing  the 
Indians,  and  fostered  the  Indian  school  at  Fort  Chris- 
tanna.  He  was  desirous  of  extending  the  Virginia  set 
tlements  westward,  to  forestall  the  French,  who  were 
spreading  from  an  opposite  direction.  With  a  retinue  of 
companions  and  attendants,  he  made  an  exploring  journey 
over  the  Blue  Ridge.  He  sent  a  vessel  after  a 
noted  pirate  on  the  coast  by  the  name  of  Teach,  ney  over°the 
and  nicknamed  Blackbeard.  The  pirate's  head  I 
was  brought  back,  fastened  to  the  bowsprit.  Spotswood 
was  an  able  and  vigorous  man,  imperious  in  his  ways  and 
notjblessed  with  tact  in  dealing  with  opponents.  His  let 
ters  to  the  home  government  abound  in  indignant  com 
plaints  against  the  Council  and  the  Burgesses.  Finally 
the  Council  succeeded  in  procuring  his  removal.  His 
successor,  Hugh  Drysdale,  kept  the  peace  with  the  Bur 
gesses,  and  the  next  Governor,  William  Gooch,  who  held 
his  office  for  twenty-two  years,  pursued  a  like  concilia 
tory  policy. 

Scotch-Irish  and  German  settlers  planted  themselves 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Potomac.  About  1732,  they 
began  to  pour  over  the  mountains  to  the  valley  immi- 

of  the  Shenandoah.  The  Scotch-Irish  erected  grants. 
their  Presbyterian  churches  in  the  region  of  which  Win 
chester  is  the  centre.  The  Germans  built  Strasburg 
and  other  towns.  They  included  Lutherans,  Mennonites, 
some  Calvinists,  and  a  few  Dunkers.  In  1737,  there  came 
over  at  one  time  about  one  hundred  families  of  Scotch- 
Irish,  from  whom  the  Alexanders,  the  McDowells,  and 
other  distinguished  families  have  descended.  A  small 
company  of  English  families  settled  around  Greenway 
Court,  the  seat  of  a  nobleman,  Lord  Fairfax. 

After  the  death  of  Commissary  Blair,  the  clergy  of  the 
Established  Church  became  more  loose  in  their  behavior, 
and  more  eager  for  their  perquisites,  and  the  character 


282  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

of  the  vestries  and  congregations  proportionately  de 
clined.  There  were  not  wanting  on  the  part  of  the 

more  godly  ministers  earnest  efforts  at  reform 

The  churches.  .  ,,.....  „..       _.         ,  «      .     , 

in  manners  and  discipline.     The  Great  Revival 

made  its  influence  felt  in  Virginia.  The  preaching  of 
Whitefield  was  heard  with  sympathy  by  many,  but  en 
countered  widespread  and  virulent  opposition.  The  fa 
ther  of  Presbyterianism  in  Virginia  was  a  Scotchman, 
Francis  Mackemie,  who  was  prosecuted  by  Cornbury  in 
New  York.  But  the  real  founder  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  as  an  organized  and  effective  body,  was  the  elo 
quent  Samuel  Davies,  who  was  settled  in  Hanover  County 
in  1748,  and  afterward  became  President  of  Princeton 
College.  It  was  he  who  obtained  in  England 'the  decla 
ration  from  the  Attorney-General  that  the  Act  of  Tolera 
tion  extended  to  Virginia.  This  he  had  maintained  in  a 
noted  controversy,  in  which  he  contended  before  a  Vir 
ginia  court  against  Peyton  Randolph,  the  Attorney-Gen 
eral  of  the  colony. 

The  system  of  indented  servants  existed  in  Virginia, 
and  the  treatment  of  them  was  regulated  by  statute.  The 
negroes  who  were  imported  from  Africa  were 
of  different  races,  and  differed  much  from  one 
another  in  physical  and  mental  qualities.  Virginia  made 
repeated  efforts  to  check  this  trade,  but  they  were  gener 
ally  discouraged  and  thwarted  by  the  English  govern 
ment.  One  of  the  complaints  inserted  by  Jefferson  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  is  that  England  had  forced 
upon  the  colonies  this  "execrable  traffic."  The  slave 
population,  by  its  natural  increase  and  by  continued  im 
portations,  multiplied  rapidly.  In  1714,  there  were  twenty- 
three  thousand.  In  1756,  they  were  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand,  when  the  whites  numbered  one  hun 
dred  and  seventy-three  thousand.  The  laws  relating  to 
the  slaves  naturally  became  more  severe  as  they  increased 


VIRGINIA   FROM   1688   TO   1756  283 

in  numbers.  There  were,  however,  humane  legal  provi 
sions.  They  were  reckoned  as  a  part  of  real  estate,  and 
one  who  inherited  an  estate  had  the  right  to  buy  the 
slaves  connected  with  it.  Negroes  who  were  free  were 
excluded  from  holding  office  or  being  witnesses  in  any 
case  whatsoever. 

There  grew  up  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  cen 
tury  in  Virginia  a  class  of  wealthy  planters.  Their  estates 
were  large  and  productive.  Besides  their  ser-  x  h  e  rich 
vants,  there  would  be  numerous  tenants  or  peters. 
smaller  landowners  who  were  more  or  less  their  depend 
ents.  The  Virginia  aristocracy  lived  in  ease  and  plenty. 
They  were  hospitable  among  themselves.  They  had  their 
horses  and  carriages.  Horse-racing  was  one  of  their  fa 
vorite  diversions.  In  the  course  of  a  publication  printed 
in  London,  in  1724,  Hugh  Jones,  who  had  been  a  minis 
ter  at  Jamestown  and  chaplain  of  the  Assembly,  gives  us 
a  glimpse  of  different  aspects  of  Virginia  life.  "  They  are 
such  Lovers  of  Biding,"  he  says,  "  that  almost  every  or 
dinary  Person  keeps  a  Horse  ;  and  I  have  known  some 
spend  the  Morning  in  ranging  several  miles  in  the  Woods 
to  find  and  catch  their  Horses  only  to  ride  two  or  three 
Miles  to  Church,  to  the  Court  House,  or  to  a  Horse-Race, 
where  they  generally  appoint  to  meet  upon  Business, 
and  are  more  certain  of  finding  those  that  they  want  to 
speak  or  deal  with,  than  at  their  Home."  There  were  .no 
manufactures  to  speak  of,  and  whatever  was  wanted  be 
yond  the  products  of  the  soil  and  of  the  labor  of  plain 
mechanics,  was  brought  from  abroad  to  the  planter's  door 
in  exchange  for  his  tobacco.  Offices  of  all  sorts  were  in 
the  hands  of  this  patrician  class.  The  towns  were  very 
few,  so  that  schools  were  not  established  as  in  other 
colonies.  Intercourse  with  England  might  introduce 
into  certain  families  a  fair  degree  of  culture.  There 
were  in  some  of  the  mansions  well  furnished  apartments. 


284  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

The  sons  could  resort  to  William  and  Mary  for  their 
higher  education,  and  sometimes  they  were  sent  abroad 
to  pursue  their  studies.  Under  these  circumstances 
there  came  to  exist  an  opulent,  high-spirited  class,  fond 
of  out-of-door  life,  and  entering  with  zest  into  sports  and 
festivities  which  the  leaders  in  Puritan  communities  ab 
jured.  Printing  was  forbidden  in  Virginia  when  Cul- 
pepper  was  Governor,  and  the  prohibition  was  contin 
ued  through  the  reign  of  James  IE.  The  first  news 
paper,  The  Virginia  Gazette,  appeared  at  Williamsburg  in 
1736. 

Robert  Dinwiddie,  a  Scotchman  like  his  last  two  pre 
decessors,  arrived  in  the  colony  as  Lieutenant-Governor 
early  in  1751.     His  coming  was  simultaneous 

Diiiwiddie.  ,     .       T7.      .    .         ,  .    , 

with  a  new  epoch  in  Virginian  histor}',  and 
the  advent  of  a  crisis  in  American  affairs.  A  company  of 
merchants  and  planters,  called  the  Ohio  Company,  re- 
Tiie  Ohio  ceived  from  the  King,  in  1749,  the  grant  of 
company.  a  yagt  tract  of  territory  west  of  the  Allegha- 
nies,  in  the  region  of  the  Ohio.  An  experienced  pioneer, 
Christopher  Gist,  was  sent  out  to  explore  it.  He  crossed 
the  Ohio,  and  from  the  summit  of  a  mountain  looked 
forth  on  the  region  now  called  Kentucky.  Dinwiddie 
was  one  of  the  members  of  the  Ohio  Company;  Law 
rence  Washington  was  another.  The  latter  complained 
that  the  requirement  made  of  settlers,  that  they  should 
have  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England,  kept  back  nu 
merous  Germans  in  Pennsylvania  and  in  Germany  itself 
from  emigrating  to  the  banks  of  the  Ohio.  He  contrasts 
the  rapid  progress  of  Pennsylvania,  where  there  was  re 
ligious  freedom,  with  the  condition  of  things  in  Virginia. 
"  This  colony,"  he  writes,  "  was  greatly  settled  in  the  lat 
ter  part  of  Charles  the  First's  time,  and  during  the 
usurpation,  by  the  zealous  churchmen,  and  that  spirit 
which  was  then  brought  in  has  ever  continued,  so  that, 


VIRGINIA   FROM   1688   TO   1756  285 

except  a  few  Quakers,  we  have  no  dissenters.  But  what 
has  been  the  consequence  ?  We  have  increased  by  slow 
degrees,  except  negroes  and  convicts,  while  our  neighbor 
ing  colonies,  whose  natural  advantages  are  greatly  infe 
rior  to  ours,  have  become  populous."  But  whatever  hin 
drances  might  retard  emigration,  it  was  evident  that  the 
English  were  alive  to  the  importance  of  taking 

-•  ,n  J?AI  English 

possession,  by  actual  settlement,  of  tne  exten-  ami  French 
sive  region  west  of  the  Ohio,  which  the  French 
were  now  seeking  to  secure  to  themselves  by  building 
a  chain  of  forts  designed  to  stretch  from  the  lakes  to 
Southern  Louisiana.  The  French  claim  was  based  on  the 
discoveries  of  La  Salle.  The  English  claim  rested  on 
a  treaty  with  the  Iroquois,  and  especially  on  the  royal 
grants,  according  to  which  Virginia  extended  indefinitely 
to  the  West. 

Dinwiddie  was  a  man  of  talents.  He  had  risen,  partly 
as  a  reward  for  his  honesty,  from  being  a  clerk  in  a  West 
India  custom-house.  His  reception  would 

n  ,  , .   ,     .       ,,  .  .,,   ,  Dinw.'ddie 

have  been  more  cordial  in  the  province  11  he   and  the  Bur- 


had  not  incurred  some  odium  in  his  previous 
station  as  surveyor  of  customs  in  the  colonies,  and  if  he 
had  not  brought  with  him  the  King's  negative  to  certain 
legislative  acts  which  had  been  passed  with  the  assent  of 
Gooch.  The  Assembly  remonstrated  in  vain  against  this 
exercise  of  the  royal  prerogative.  A  still  greater  excite 
ment  was  kindled  when  the  Governor  and  Council  began 
to  require  a  fee  for  annexing  the  seal  to  a  grant  of  land, 
although  the  warrant  of  a  survey  had  been  sufficient  be 
fore  to  establish  the  title.  Peyton  Randolph  was  sent 
to  England  by  the  Burgesses  to  obtain  redress.  The 
Board  of  Trade  decided  for  Dinwiddie,  but  advised  a 
compromise.  He  wrote  that  his  opponents  were  "  full  of 
the  success  of  their  party."  The  spirit  of  resistance  to 
any  enlargement  of  the  royal  prerogative,  and  to  the  least 


286  THE    COLONIAL    KIIA 

encroachment  on  colonial  privileges,  continued  to  per 
vade  the  popular  Assembly. 

Our  interest  in  Virginia  history  now  begins  to  gather 
about  one  youth  whose  name  will  never  cease  to  send 
George  Wash-  a  thrill  to  the  heart  of  every  American  who 

ing  on<  knows  how  to  value  nobility  of  character  and 
unselfish  patriotism — the  name  of  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 
He  was  born  on  February  22,  1732,  in  Westmoreland 
County,  of  a  good  family,  which  had  resided  there  for 
three  generations.  His  early  education  was  defective 
except  in  mathematics  ;  but,  as  his  letters  and  other  writ 
ings  evince,  he  took  great  pains  and  made  constant  prog 
ress  in  remedying  its  deficiencies,  especially  as  regards 
correctness  and  propriety  of  expression.  Being  a  younger 
brother,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  earn  a  livelihood. 
His  half-brother,  Lawrence,  had  been  with  Admiral  Ver- 
non,  at  Carthagena,  and  had  given  his  name  to  the 
estate  which  George  Washington  afterward  inherited. 
From  him  a  commission  was  obtained  for  George  as  a 
midshipman.  The  unwillingness  of  his  mother  that 
he  should  go  to  sea,  in  which  she  was  supported  by  the 
advice  of  an  English  relation,  put  an  end  to  this  project. 
Lawrence  Washington  married  a  daughter  of  Lord  Fair 
fax,  and  by  this  means  his  }rounger  brother,  then  only 
sixteen,  came  to  be  employed  to  survey  the  vast  estates 
of  Fairfax  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge.  During  this  work 
which  went  on  for  three  years,  Washington  invigorated 
his  frame,  was  inured  to  hardships,  became  familiar  with 
matters  of  topography,  and  conversant  with  all  sorts  of 
people,  from  the  genteel  household  of  the  Fairfaxes  to  the 
Indians  and  the  rough  whites  on  the  frontier. 

In  1751,  on  finishing  his  task  he  was  appointed  one  of 
the  adjutant-generals  of  Virginia,  with  the  rank  of  major. 
One  of  the  four  military  districts,  the  northern  one,  was 
assigned  to  him  by  Dinwiddie.  The  military  profession 


VIRGINIA   FROM   1688  TO   1756  287 

had  for  Washington  a  very  strong  attraction.  His  first 
important  employment  was  on  a  difficult  and  perilous 
mission  to  the  French  on  the  Ohio,  on  which  AD  Adjutant- 
he  was  sent  by  the  Governor,  to  present  a  re 
monstrance  against  their  encroachments.  His  earliest 
writing  of  importance  is  the  journal  which  records  briefly 
the  particulars  of  this  journey.  The  journey 

J  -J.1.  £  J  A  4-1,    "  A   messen- 

was  made  with  a  lew  attendants,  together  per  to  the 
with  Indian  guide's  and  some  of  their  chiefs. 
It  was  made  in  winter,  over  mountains,  through  forests, 
and  across  rapid  rivers,  bearing  along  on  their  currents 
broken  masses  of  ice.  He  traversed  a  distance  of  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  miles.  On  the  way  he  surveyed  the 
country  from  high  ground,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Alle- 
ghany  and  Monongahela,  where  their  waters  unite  to 
form  the  Ohio.  He  pronounced  the  spot  on  which  he 
stood  to  be  the  propsr  site  of  a  fort,  and  soon  after  Fort 
Duquesne  was  built  there.  On  his  return,  in  trying  to 
cross  the  swift  and  icy  Monongahela,  on  a  raft  which  was 
made  with  a  hatchet,  he  barely  escaped  with  his  life.  He 
was  again  in  imminent  peril  from  hostile  Indians,  but, 
after  eleven  weeks'  absence,  arrived  in  safety  at  Williams- 
burg,  on  January  16,  1754.  He  now  received  the  com 
mand  of  two  companies,  and  was  ordered  to  go  and 
complete  a  fort  which  it  was  supposed  that  the  Ohio  Com 
pany  had  commenced  to  build.  In  1753,  the  Assembly 
declined  to  vote  supplies,  for  the  reason  that  "  their 
privileges  "  were  thought  to  be  in  danger.  In  January, 
1754,  the  Governor  succeeded  in  drawing  from  them 
a  grant  of  £10,000,  to  be  used  on  the  frontiers  against 
the  French  ;  but  their  vote  was  clogged  with  provisos 
to  ward  off  the  encroachments  of  prerogative.  Wash 
ington  was  made  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  a  regiment  of 
three  hundred  men.  On  his  way  to  execute  his  errand 
he  ascertained  that  the  French  had  got  possession  of 


288  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

the  unfinished  fort  at  the  fork  of  the  Ohio.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  open  hostilities.  Virginia  declined  to 
take  part  in  the  Albany  Congress  of  1754.  Dinwiddie's 
plan  was  for  two  confederations,  one  for  the  north  and 
another  for  the  south.  The  money  granted  by  the  As 
sembly  was  disbursed  by  its  own  committee,  and  in 
such  a  spirit  as  to  excite  the  disgust  of  Washington 
and  the  other  officers.  There  is  no  doubt  that  military 
operations  were  checked  and  embarrassed  by  the  jeal 
ousy  of  prerogative  which  actuated  that  body,  whatever 
incidental  or  remote  advantages  may  have  flowed  from 
their  policy.  Washington  attacked  a  reconnoitring  de 
tachment  of  the  French,  and  its  leader,  Jumonville,  was 
among  the  slain.  He  was  obliged  by  the  approach  of 
a  greatly  superior  force  from  Fort  Duquesne  to  retreat 
At  Great  ^°  Great  Meadows,  and  there  to  surrender  a 
Meadows,  stockade  fort  which  he  had  built ;  extorting, 
however,  from  the  enemy  the  privilege  of  marching  out 
his  troops  with  the  honors  of  war.  This  was  on  July  4, 
1754.  The  Assembly  passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  himself 
and  his  officers,  although  there  was  afterward  some  un 
just  criticism  upon  certain  articles  in  the  capitulation. 

In  this  early  part  of  the  career  of  Washington,  even  in 
his  first  mission  to  the  French  on  the  Ohio,  there  are  dis 
covered  the  sound  judgment,  the  self-government,  and 
the  courage  which  were  ever  distinguishing  qualities  in 
his  character.  With  these  traits  were  united  an  unswerv 
ing  fidelity  to  duty  and  a  high  sense  of  honor.  In  the 
summer  of  1754,  Fort  Cumberland  was  built,  northwest 
of  Winchester,  on  the  Maryland  shore  of  the  Potomac. 
In  the  conduct  of  the  war,  the  power  of  the  Assembly  was 
increased  by  making  their  Speaker  the  treasurer  of  the 
colony.  This  last  office  the  Assembly  had  filled  since 
1738.  A  new  military  arrangement  of  Dinwiddie,  which 
made  the  provincial  officers  subordinate  to  officers  of  the 


VIRGINIA  FROM   1688  TO   1756  289 

same  rank  who  held  a  royal  commission,  led  Washington 
to  resign.  In  February,  1755,  General  Edward  Brad- 
dock,  who  was  appointed  Comniander-in-Chief  An  a;de  of 
of  all  the  colonial  forces,  arrived.  He  invited  Braddock- 
Washington  to  enter  his  military  family  as  a  volunteer, 
and  soon  after  appointed  him  an  aide-de-camp.  A  consul 
tation  was  held  with  the  Governor  at  Alexandria.  There 
the  plan  of  the  campaign  was  formed.  Braddock  led 
his  force,  which  consisted  of  two  thousand  one  hundred 
and  fifty  effective  troops,  on  the  way  to  Fort  Duquesne. 
He  was  a  brave  but  headstrong  soldier,  somewhat  reluc 
tant  to  take  advice,  and  ready  to  break  out  into  vituper 
ation  against  the  colonies  on  account  of  hindrances  and 
impediments  that  he  had  not  expected  to  find.  There 
were  debates  between  him  and  Washington  on  these 
matters.  The  General  was  indebted  to  the  exertions  of 
Franklin  for  the  means  of  transportation  that  were  fur 
nished  him  by  the  farmers  of  Pennsylvania.  The  ad 
vance  of  the  army  was  extremely  slow,  but  Washington's 
counsel  was  so  far  adopted  that  a  body  of  twelve  hun 
dred  men  moved  onward  under  Braddock,  the  Defeat  of 
remainder  following  as  a  rear-guard.  Wash-  Braddock. 
ington  was  himself  prostrated  by  a  fever,  and  was  still 
weak  when  he  joined  Braddock  on  the  day  preceding 
the  battle  of  Monongahela.  The  French  and  Indian 
force  at  Fort  Duquesne  was  inferior  to  that  of  the  Eng 
lish,  and  if  the  English  commander  had  been  willing  to 
take  proper  precautions  against  an  ambuscade,  the  fort 
would  have  been  easily  captured.  As  it  was,  on  July  9, 
1755,  he  allowed  himself  to  be  surprised  on  the  borders 
of  a  forest  only  seven  miles  from  the  fort,  by  a  murder 
ous  fire  from  French  and  Indians,  who  were  concealed 
behind  the  trees.  The  regular  troops  were  thrown  into 
a  panic ;  their  methods  of  warfare  were  totally  unsuited 
to  this  exigency  ;  their  General  refused  to  let  them  imi- 
19 


290  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

tate  the  foe  and  make  a   breastwork  of  the  trees,  but 
sought  to  rally  them  in  platoons.     Braddock,  as  brave  as 
he  was  unwise,  was  mortally  wounded,  and  with  difficulty 
carried  from  the  field.     There  was  a  great  destruction 
of  life  among  the  officers.     In  this  confused  and   terri 
fic  combat  Washington  was   the  only  aid  who  was  not 
wounded.   He  rode  up  and  down  the  field,  carrying  the  or 
ders  of  the  General,  unhurt,  although  four  bullets  passed 
through  his  coat,  and  two  horses  were  shot  under  him. 
The  young  hero,  then  as  always,  calm  and  fearless,  was 
only  twenty-three  years  old.     The  "dastardly  behavior" 
of  the  regular  troops  excited  his  indignation.     On  the 
retreat  Braddock  died  at  Great  Meadows,  July 
The  retreat.     ^^     ^  patriotic  discourse  was  delivered  by 
the  celebrated  Virginia  preacher,  Davies,  before  a  com 
pany  of  volunteers.     In  a  note  to  this  sermon  occur  the 
words  :  "As  a  remarkable  instance  of  this,  I  may  point 
out  to  the  public  that  heroic  youth,  Colonel  Washington, 
whom  I  cannot  but  hope  Providence  has  hitherto  pre 
served  in  so  signal  a  manner  for  some  important  service 
to  his  country."    In  August,  1755,  the  Assembly  voted 
£40,000   for  military  uses.     Washington  was  appointed 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  forces,  with  the  liberty  to  se 
lect  his  own  officers.     He  repaired  to  Winchester.     He 
found  the  people  in  that  region  in  a  state  of  des- 
toS?w?£   perate  alarm  and  confusion.     French  and  In- 
chester.          faans  were  committing  fiendish  outrages  along 
the  frontiers.     The  soldiers  were  extremely  ill-behaved, 
insolent,   and  insubordinate.     He   at  length  persuaded 
the   Assembly   to   adopt  rigorous   military   regulations. 
Such  was  the  compassion  that  he  felt  for  the  sufferings  of 
the  people  that  he  declared,  in  a  letter  to  Dinwiddie,  that 
he  would  willingly  submit  to  be  butchered  by  the  savages 
if  he  could  release  them  from  their  sorrows  and   fears. 
Captain  Dagworthy,  at  Fort  Cumberland,  having  a  royal 


VIRGINIA   FROM    1688  TO   1756  291 

commission,  declined  to  obey  the  orders  of  Washington. 
The  Governor  left  Shirley,  the  Commander-in-Chief,  to 
decide  the  point.  Washington  made  a  visit  to  Boston 
to  consult  him  on  this  subject,  and  on  other 
matters  relating  to  the  war.  Shirley  decided  ton  visits 
the  mooted  point  in  accordance  with  Wash 
ington's  views  ;  and,  in  compliance  with  Dinwiddie's  re 
quest,  gave  to  Washington  and  his  field-officers  royal 
commissions.  For  a  year  or  two,  he  had  to  defend  a 
frontier  of  more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in 
length,  with  a  force  of  only  seven  hundred  men.  But  in 
1758  he  was  in  command  of  the  advance-guard  of  the 
victorious  troops  who  entered  Fort  Duquesne. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  CAROLINAS  FROM  1688  TO  1756 

North  Carolina— Conflict  of  Parties— Indian  War-  Increase  of  the 
Colony— A  Royal  Province— Immigrants— South  Carolina— 
Archdale— Charleston— Indian  War— War  with  the  Yemassees 
—Hostility  to  the  Proprietaries — End  of  the  Proprietary  Rule 
— Nicholson — The  Governor  and  the  Assembly — Indian  Trou 
bles—Revolt  of  Slaves— Trade  and  Emigration— Glen— Society 
in  South  Carolina. 

SETTLEMENT  in  North  Carolina,  except  on  the  Virginia 
border,  went  on  very  slowly.  There  were  no  towns  or 
Social  condi-  villages.  There  were  many  Quakers  in  the 
tion-  colony,  but  when  any  attention  was  given  to 
religion,  there  was  much  discord.  Until  1705,  there  was 
no  church  built,  and  five  years  later  there  was  only  one 
clergyman.  The  scattered  settlers  were  left  each  to  fol 
low  his  own  ways.  Organization  of  every  kind  was  dif 
ficult  to  be  secured.  Under  such  circumstances  it  was 
not  strange  that  the  people  should  be  impatient  of  the 
restraints  of  government,  and  that  disorder  should  pre 
vail.  Runaways  from  the  well-ordered  community  on  the 
North  found  a  safe  asylum.  Until  1754,  there  was  no 
printing-press  in  the  colony. 

Philip  Ludwell  succeeded  Sothel.     After  four  years, 
when  he  was  made  Governor  of  both  colonies,  and  took 
up  his  abode  at  Charleston,  the  northern  prov 
ince  was   put  under  the  charge  of  deputies. 
The  "Fundamental  Constitutions"  of  the  English  phi 
losophers  were  now  abandoned,  and  the  North  Carolin- 


THE   CAROLINAS   FTCOM   1688  TO   1756  293 

ians  were  allowed  to  govern  themselves  according  to  the 
charter.  In  1704,  Robert  Daniel,  the  Deputy  of  Govern 
or  Johnson,  undertook  to  establish  the  Church  Confl}Ct  Of 
of  England,  and  procured  the  assent  of  the  parties, 
legislature,  which,  also,  passed  an  act  requiring  oaths  to 
be  taken  by  all  officials.  This  would  have  the  effect  to 
shut  oat  Quakers  from  holding  office.  The  people  now 
divided  into  two  contending  parties.  Carey  was  ap 
pointed  in  Daniel's  place,  but  was  soon  removed.  Will 
iam  Glover  became  acting  Governor,  he  being  President 
of  the  Council.  Glover  was  an  active  Churchman.  Carey 
was  the  head  of  the  opposing  party,  who  denied  the  legal 
ity  of  his  election.  For  four  years  there  were  two  As 
semblies  and  two  Governors.  When  Edward  Hyde  was 
sent  out  by  the  proprietaries,  Spotswood  intervened  in 
his  favor.  Carey,  who  led  an  insurrection  against  him, 
came  into  Virginia,  but  was  sent  to  England  to  be  tried. 
An  Indian  war  now  broke  out  on  the  borders. 
Hundreds  of  whites  on  the  Eoanoke  and  else 
where  were  slaughtered  by  the  savages  of  the  Tuscarora 
tribe.  The  North  Carolina  militia  would  not  obey  the 
call  of  Hyde,  but  the  Tuscaroras  were  defeated,  and  for 
a  time  reduced  to  quiet,  by  troops  from  South  Carolina. 
Pollock,  made  President  of  the  Council,  and,  as  such, 
acting  Governor,  described  the  whole  condition  of  the  col 
ony  as  ruinous  in  the  extreme.  Help  was  again  implored 
from  South  Carolina,  and  Colonel  James  Moore,  with  a 
force  from  that  province,  inflicted  such  a  de 
feat  upon  the  Tuscaroras  that  the  bulk  of  them 
moved  northward  and  joined  the  Five  Nations.  Those 
that  remained  made  peace.  The  grounds  of  their  hostil 
ity  were  encroachments  on  their  lands,  alleged  frauds  of 
traders,  and  the  killing  of  one  of  their  tribe.  Spotswood, 
the  Governor  of  Virginia,  wrote  to  the  Lords  Commis 
sioners  of  Trade  (May  9,  1716) :  "It  has  been  the  general 


294  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

observation,  both  in  this  and  the  neighboring  provinces, 
that  the  Indians  have  rarely  ever  broke  out  with  the 
English,  except  when  they  have  received  some  notorious 
injury  from  the  persons  trading  with  them."  "Indian 
traders,"  he  adds,  "  have  been  made  drunk  and  imposed 
upon,  and  this  has  provoked  a  bloody  retaliation.  They 
being  accustomed  among  themselves  to  compound  for 
murder  by  a  payment,  count  one  as  the  equivalent  of  the 
other." 

Charles  Eden,  the  next  Governor,  was  qualified  for  the 
post.  The  Carey  faction  was  still  active,  and  there  was 
increase  of  a  growing  disaffection  with  the  government  of 
the  colony.  the  Proprietaries.  The  population  of  the  col 
ony  was  increased  in  1690  and  in  1707  by  the  incoming 
of  bodies  of  French  Protestants.  Swiss  and  German 
colonists  settled  at  Newbem.  The  Legislature  met  at 
Edenton,  which  was  founded  in  1715.  The  progress  of 
the  colony  was  checked  by  the  absence  of  any  town  on 
the  coast  from  which  exports  could  be  sent  abroad.  Vir 
ginia  rendered  a  service  by  interposing  to  put  down 
piracy.  Toleration  was  enacted,  although  the  establish 
ment  of  the  English  Church  was  continued. 

At  length  the  Proprietaries  sold  their  rights  to  the 
Crown.  The  satisfaction  of  the  inhabitants  at  this 
A  royal  cl]ange  was  somewhat  chilled  by  the  appear- 
province.  ance,  as  Governor,  of  Harrington,  a  worthless 
profligate,  who  had  before  exercised  executive  authority. 
He  prorogued  the  Assembly  for  refusing  to  establish  a 
permanent  revenue  and  to  grant  to  him  the  salary  which 
he  demanded.  He  was  deprived  of  his  office  in  1734. 
Gabriel  Johnston,  a  Scotchman,  held  the  place  for  nearly 
twenty  years.  The  salaries  of  the  Crown  officers  were 
expected  to  be  paid  from  quit-rents,  but  no  satisfactory 
law  for  their  collection  could  be  extorted  from  the  As 
sembly.  When  the  Governor  set  about  collecting  them 


THE   CAKOLIXAS   FROM    1G88   TO   175G  295 

by  his  own  agents,  the  Assembly  resisted  the  measure, 
and  threw  his  officers  into  prison.  There  were  improve 
ments  introduced — for  example,  in  the  judiciary  system. 
But  Johnston's  endeavors  to  promote  education  do  not 
appear  to  have  been  seconded  by  popular  support.  Dur 
ing  the  existence  of  the  royal  government,  we  have  ac 
counts  of  only  two  schools,  one  at  Newbern,  and  the 
other  at  Edenton.  Wilmington  became  one  of  the  places 
for  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly.  In  1721,  for  the  first 
time,  a  law  was  passed  for  the  disfranchisement  of  free 
negroes.  Highlanders  and  emigrants  from 
Ireland  came  into  the  colony,  the  number  of 
whose  inhabitants  was  still  more  increased  by  an  emi 
gration  into  the  central  and  western  regions  from  the 
western  parts  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania.  Dobbs  be 
came  Governor  in  1754.  Men  and  money  were  contrib 
uted  for  the  aid  of  the  more  northern  colonies  at  the 
outbreaking  of  the  war  with  the  French  and  Indians. 
But  the  Assembly  kept  up  a  struggle  in  behalf  of  popular 
government,  in  opposition  to  the  Governor's  assertion  of 
prerogative. 

When  Sothel  was  driven  from  North  Carolina,  being  a 
"  Palatine,"  he  assumed  authority  in  the  southern  prov 
ince,  but  his  misconduct  was  such  that  he  was 
obliged  to  depart.     Under  Ludwell,  his  suc 
cessor,  the  Proprietaries,  finding  it  impossible  to  enforce 
the  constitutions,  finally  gave  them  up,  and  left  the  col 
ony  to  be  governed  by  the  charter.     The  Parliament  be 
came  an  Assembly.     It  was  conceded  that  the  power  of 
proposing  laws  should  not  be  confined  to  the  Governor 
and  Council.    Smith,  who  followed  Ludwell,  succeeded  no 
better  than  he  in  allaying  strife.     Two  parties  The  two  par. 
sprang  up,  that  of  the  Proprietaries  and  their 
officers,  a  party  to  which  the  Churchmen  adhered,  and 
the  party  comprised  of  the  Dissenters,  a  majority  of  the 


290  THE   COLONIAL    ERA 

people.  There  was  an  opposition  to  the  paying  of  quit- 
rents.  There  were  disputes  about  the  tenure  of  lands,  the 
naturalization  of  Huguenots,  and  other  subjects.  It  was 
in  Smith's  time  that  rice  was  brought  in  from  Madagascar. 
It  became  the  principal  product  of  the  colony.  As  the 
raising  of  it  was  unhealthy  for  the  whites,  the  effect  of  its 
introduction  was  to  promote  negro  slavery. 
Joseph  Archdale,  himself  a  proprietor,  a  pious 
Quaker,  who  knew  how  to  bridle  his  tongue,  was  sent  out 
as  Governor,  to  pacify  discontent.  He  made  important 
concessions.  He  allowed  the  number  of  representatives 
to  be  increased.  He  remitted,  on  certain  conditions,  ar 
rears  of  quit-rents.  He  paved  the  way  for  his  successor, 
Joseph  Blake.  Yet  two  years  after  Blake's  coming,  the 
Assembly  asked  for  the  privilege  of  coining  money,  and 
petitioned  for  the  removal  of  duties  on  exports.  In  1697, 
religious  liberty  was  adopted  by  laws  applicable  to  all 
except  "  papists."  A  liberal  course  was  pursued  in  the 
enactments  relating  to  the  Huguenots.  In  1700,  James 
Moore  was  appointed  Governor.  Prominent  party  lead 
ers  now  appear  on  the  stage.  One  of  the  foremost  was 
Nicholas  Trott,  who  was  at  first  on  the  popular  side,  but 
was  won  over  by  offices,  and,  with  his  brother-in-law, 
Colonel  Ehett,  became  the  champions  of  the  Proprietary 
interest. 

Charleston  had  now  become  a  nourishing  town,  with  a 
lucrative  commerce,  handsome  houses,  the  homes  of  re 
fined   and   intelligent    families.       When    war 
broke  out  between  England  and  Spain,  Moore 
commanded  an  expedition  against  St.  Augustine.     The 
town  was  pillaged  and  the  castle  was  besieged ;   but  the 
arrival  of  two  Spanish  ships  compelled  the  English  forces 
to  retire,  burning  the  town  behind  them.     In  1703,  a 
soldier,  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  arrived  to  succeed  Moore. 
The  Apalatchees  were  allies  of  the   Spaniards.     Moore 


THE   CAKOLIXAS   FKOM   1688   TO   1756  297 

was  sent  out  against  them  at  the  head  of  a  small  body  of 
whites,  and  a  thousand  Indians.  The  Apalatchees,  with 
their  Indian  helpers,  were  routed,  andtKeir 
country  ravaged.  In  1704,  Lord  Gran ville,  then 
Palatine,  had  instructed  the  Governor,  and  the  faction  at 
his  back,  to  pass  stringent  laws  for  the  establishment  of 
Episcopacy.  A  law  was  enacted  which  excluded  Dissen 
ters  from  sitting  in  the  Assembly.  The  Churchmen,  on 
the  other  hand,  were  offended  by  the  passage  of  a  law 
which  relegated  the  trial  of  ecclesiastical  causes  to  a  lay 
commission.  Queen  Anne,  despite  Granville,  annulled 
both  of  these  laws.  On  this  occasion  the  Board  of  Trade 
recommended  that  the  charter  itself  be  annulled.  This 
was  not  done.  It  foreshadowed,  however,  what  was  to 
come.  The  struggle  had  been  a  bitter  one.  Johnson 
acquired  more  honor  by  resolutely  meeting  and  repuls 
ing  an  attack  on  Charleston  by  the  French,  aided  by  the 
Spanish  Governor  at  Havana.  Lord  William  Craven, 
Granville's  successor,  was  a  moderate  man.  Governor 
Edward  Tynte  was  conciliating  in  his  temper,  but  he 
lived  but  a  short  time.  Then  the  brother  of  the  Palatine, 
Colonel  Charles  Craven,  a  man  of  admirable  qualities, 
ruled  the  province.  Obnoxious  laws,  adverse  to  Dissen 
ters,  were  repealed,  but  the  parish  system  was  introduced, 
and  it  was  provided  that  elections  should  be  held,  not  in 
Charleston  alone,  but  in  the  respective  parishes.  Effi 
cient  aid  was  sent  to  North  Carolina  in  the  war  against 
the  Tuscaroras.  But  the  colony  had  to  engage  in  war 
with  the  Yemassees,  who  had  before  been  wai- with  the 
friendly,  but  had  been  seduced  from  their  Yemassces. 
friendship  by  the  Spaniards,  and  were  irritated  by  the 
traders,  who  harassed  them  by  demands  for  the  payment 
of  debts.  The  Yemassees  were  joined  by  the  Creeks, 
and  the  Indian  tribes  "  from  Mobile  River  to  Cape  Fear  " 
were  in  commotion.  There  was  a  savage  massacre  of  the 


298  THE   COLONIAL   EKA 

settlers  on  the  borders.  The  Governor  of  South  Caro 
lina  acted  with  energy.  North  Carolina  sent  reinforce 
ments.  The  savages  were  beaten,  their  town  was  cap 
tured,  and  their  fort  taken  by  Colonel  Mackay.  The 
Yemassees  were  driven  beyond  the  Savannah,  and  took 
up  their  abode  in  Florida. 

In  1717,  Robert  Johnson,  a  son  of  the  former  Governor, 

Sir  Nathaniel,   succeeded  Craven.     From  this  time  the 

Proprietaries   and    their   officials   grew   more 

Hostility  to     n         .  .  ,        ...      .,  .        ,  D  .,  .    .. 

the  Proprie-  domineering,  and  with  this  change  the  spirit 
of  resistance  in  the  opposing  party  kept  pace. 
The  expenses  of  the  colony  were  largely  increased  by 
the  necessity  of  paying  troops  and  keeping  up  garri 
sons  on  the  border.  The  Assembly  had  issued  bills  of 
credit,  which  had  depreciated.  A  royal  order  came  to  call 
them  in  and  cancel  them.  This  was  owing  to  a  complaint 
of  the  London  merchants.  To  fulfil  the  order  was  diffi 
cult,  partly  by  reason  of  another  order  requiring  a  repeal 
of  the  tax  which  had  been  imposed  on  importations.  The 
pirates  had  become  dangerous,  and  new  expenditures 
were  necessary  to  suppress  their  depredations.  Johnson 
was  personally  admired  for  his  bravery  in  pursuing  one 
of  the  marauders,  and  seizing  him  after  a  desperate  strug 
gle.  But  the  conflict  with  the  policy  which  he  was  the 
instrument  of  enforcing,  continued.  Trott,  who  was 
Chief  Justice,  was  the  ruling  spirit  in  the  conduct  of  af 
fairs  within  the  province.  Directions  were  sent  out  to 
repeal  the  election  law,  to  which  reference  has  been  made, 
and  to  repeal  other  laws  deemed  by  the  Assembly  to  be  of 
rital  consequence.  One  of  the  Council,  Yonge,  was  de 
spatched  to  England  to  carry  a  remonstrance  to  the  Pro 
prietors.  It  brought  only  a  disdainful  refusal.  A  Span 
ish  invasion,  it  was  thought,  was  impending,  and  grants 
of  money  were  absolutely  necessary.  The  Assembly 
pointed  to  the  law  for  imposing  duties.  They  told  the 


THE   CAROLINAS  FROM   1688  TO   1756  299 

Governor  that  the  repeal  of  it  by  the  Proprietors  was  of 
no  account,  and  had  no  validity.  The  citizens  formed 
themselves  into  secret  associations.  The  Gov- 

...    .         ,  ..        End  of  the 

ernor  mustered  the  militia;  but  they  would  Proprietary 
obey  only  the  Assembly.  The  Assembly  disre 
garded  Johnson's  proclamation  dissolving  them.  It  re 
solved  itself  into  a  convention,  and  elected  a  Governor 
of  its  own,  James  Moore.  Opposition  was  useless.  The 
revolution  was  successful.  A  Council  was  chosen  by  the 
Assembly.  New  legislative  acts  were  passed.  Order 
was  taken  for  laying  a  report  of  the  proceedings  before 
the  Board  of  Trade  and  before  the  King.  There  was  a 
party,  however,  still  in  favor  of  Johnson.  Receiving  aid 
from  two  English  vessels  which  arrived  in  the  Ma  I7gi 
harbor,  he  proposed  to  make  an  attempt  upon 
the  forts.  He  was  withstood  by  the  garrisons,  and  gave 
up  his  project  when  he  learned  that  a  provisional  royal 
Governor  had  been  appointed.  Francis  Nicholson  ar 
rived  with  his  commission,  on  May  23,  1721.  The  gov 
ernment  of  the  Proprietaries  was  brought  to  an  end,  al 
though  the  purchase  of  their  rights  by  the  Crown  was  not 
consummated  until  1729. 

The  people  rejoiced  to  be  rid  of  the  old  meddlesome 
and  dictatorial  system  of  rule.  Nicholson  had  profited  by 
his  long  experience  in  colonial  government, 

n  •-,     i  -.LI      j.i          A  11  Nicholson. 

and  avoided  contention  with  the  Assembly. 
It  was  now  in  the  highest  degree  important  to  bring  the 
Indians  on  the  frontiers  into  a  friendly  relation  to  the 
English.  He  set  about  this  task.  Much  was  done  for 
the  religious  and  educational  interests  of  the  colony. 
New  parishes  were  formed,  new  churches  were  built,  and 
the  London  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel 
sent  over  clergymen.  But  when,  at  the  end  of  four 
years,  Nicholson  was  succeeded  by  Arthur  Middleton, 
the  old  war  between  the  different  branches  of  the  Gov- 


300  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

ernment  revived.     The  Assembly  refused  to  pass  a  sup 
ply  bill  unless  a  measure  of  their  own  was  accepted.     In 
the  course  of  four  years  the  same  bill  was  eight 
c;iior  anathe   times  rejected   by   the    Governor   and   Coun 
cil.    Six  times  the  Assembly  was  dissolved  and 
a  new  election  ordered.     They  claimed  to  elect  their  own 
clerk  without  the  concurrence  of  the  Council  ;  and  there 
were  other  subjects  of  controversy. 

In  pursuance  of  the  pacific  Indian  policy  of  Nichol 
son,  Sir  Alexander  Gumming  visited  the  powerful  tribe 
Indian  trou-  of  Cherokees.  Six  of  their  chieftains  accom 
panied  Gumming  on  a  visit  to  England.  The 
Spaniards  let  Florida  be  a  place  of  refuge  for  fugitive 
slaves.  These,  as  well  as  the  hostile  Yemassees,  plun 
dered  the  border  plantations.  An  expedition  under  Col 
onel  Palmer  laid  waste  the  country  as  far  as  St.  Augus 
tine.  A  fort  was  erected  in  Nicholson's  time  on  the 
Altamaha  Eiver,  which  the  English  claimed  as  the  boun 
dary.  In  1738,  an  armed  revolt  of  negroes  on  the  Stono 
Revolt  of  Iliver  was  discovered  in  season  to  be  sup- 
si  aves.  pressed,  and  thus  an  extended  massacre  of 
whites  was  prevented.  The  negroes  had  become  so  nu 
merous  as  to  excite  much  alarm.  German  Palatines  came 
over  at  different  times.  Swiss  emigrants  came  over  in 
1732,  and  settled  near  the  Savannah  Eiver.  Irish  emi 
grants  planted  themselves  at  Williamsburg.  The  found 
ing  of  the  colony  of  Georgia  served  as  a  means  of  protec 
tion  for  the  frontier.  At  a  later  time,  new-comers  from 
Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  and  people  from  the  coast, 
became  settlers  in  the  "  up  country." 

Sir  Eobert  Johnson  was  the  first  of  the  royal  Gover 
nors.     Notwithstanding  his  expulsion  from  of- 

1731. 

fice,  he  had  always  been  a  personal  favorite. 
He  was  no  longer  fettered  by  the  directions  of  Proprieta 
ries.  Parliament  lightened  the  restrictions  upon  the 


THE   CAROLINES   FROM   1688  TO   1756  301 

commerce  of  the  colony.  A  bounty  on  hemp  was  grant- 
ecH  The  people  were  gratified  by  the  remission  of  the 
arrears  of  quit-rents.  The  harbor  of  Charleston  was  for 
tified,  and  ships  of  war  were  sent  for  its  defence.  The 
new  order  of  things  stimulated  the  foreign  T  r  a  d  e  and 
trade.  It  enticed  from  abroad  the  emigra-  em3gration- 
tion  which  has  just  been  referred  to.  The  lull  in  con 
tests  of  parties,  however,  could  not  continue  long.  The 
Assembly  were  at  issue  with  the  officers  of  the  Crown  in 
relation  to  the  courts  of  law.  It  was  determined,  more 
over,  to  grant  the  Governor's  salary  year  by  year.  Un 
der  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  Broughton,  who  was  in 
power  for  two  years  after  Johnson's  death,  the 

,,     ,     j     .,  -,  ,  1735-3T. 

Assembly  had  its  own  way,  and  made  a  large 
issue  of  paper  money.  Under  Bull,  the  next  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  the  colony  aided  Georgia  in  an  unsuccessful 
expedition  against  Florida.  Other  calamities  occurred — 
the  negro  insurrection  spoken  of  above,  and  a  disastrous 
fire  in  Charleston.  There  was  a  standing  controversy 
respecting  the  Crown  lands.  James  Glen,  who  began 
his  administration  as  Governor  in  December, 
1743,  was  regarded  as  a  friend  of  the  popular 
interest,  but  not  even  he  could  escape  controversies  with 
the  Assembly.  He  was  energetic  in  fortifying  the  prov 
ince,  and  by  treaties  with  the  Indians  and  by  other 
means  prepared  it  to  withstand  invasion  by  the  Span 
iards.  In  pursuit  of  these  ends,  he  traversed  the  colony 
and  made  a  personal  visit  to  the  Cherokees.  Troops 
were  sent  over  from  England  to  garrison  the  forts  on  the 
frontiers.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  with  the  French 
and  Indians,  Glen  was  not  on  good  term 3  with  the  As 
sembly.  He  could  not  obtain  a  grant  of  supplies.  South 
Carolina  did  not  take  an  active  part  in  the  vv*ar. 

There  was  a  strong  tendency  to  ths  division  of  soci 
ety  into  two  classes — the  slave-owners  and  their_  servants. 


302  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

Commerce  prospered,  and  Charleston  became  a  mart  of 
trade.  It  became,  likewise,  a  seat  of  wealth  and  fashion, 
where  in  winter  the  prosperous  planters,  who  aspired 
after  a  certain  polish,  formed  an  elegant,  pleasure-lov 
ing  society.  In  the  population  of  South  Carolina  the 
English  race  was  less  predominant  than  was  the  fact 
elsewhere.  But  the  intermingling  of  foreign  elements, 
such  was  their  character,  was  a  source  of  strength.  The 
various  elements  conspired  to  form  the  foundation  of  a 
virile,  self-respecting  community. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

GEORGIA    FROM  ITS  SETTLEMENT    TO   1756 

Oglethorpe— His  Career— His  Plan  for  a  Colony — Grant  of  Territory 
— The  Settlement — Immigrants  from  Salzburg — The  Colony 
Reinforced  —  State  of  the  Colony — Trials  —  John  Wesley  — 
Charles  Wesley — Expedition  against  St.  Augustine — Spanish 
Attack  Repelled — Whitefield  in  Georgia — Surrender  of  the 
Charter — Tiie  New  Government — Social  Condition. 

UNLIKE  the  other  colonies,  Georgia  was  settled  neither 
from  the  love  of  gain  nor  for  the  sake  of  a  principle  in 
religion  or  politics.  The  motive  of  its  founder  was  an 
unselfish  philanthropy.  Of  the  leaders  in  colonization, 
he  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  and  most  worthy 
of  respect.  James  Edward  Oglethorpe  sprang 

t  •      L  £        -i  i,-   i        Ji          j  'A  Oglethorpe. 

from  an  ancient  family,  which  adhered  to  the 
house  of  Stuart  down  to  the  fall  of  James  II.  Of  the 
early  life  of  James,  the  third  son  of  Sir  Theophilus  Ogle 
thorpe,  we  have  scanty  information.  Prominent  as  he 
was,  and  living  to  be  nearly  a  hundred  years  old — living 
until  the  colony  which  he  planted  had  separated  from 
Great  Britain  and  was  one  of  the  United  States — there 
is,  nevertheless,  a  remarkable  dearth  of  details  respecting 
his  personal  characteristics. 

We  know  that  his  gallantry  and  nobleness  were  held 
in  high  esteem  through  all  his  life.  Dr.  Johnson  appears 
to  have  had  a  great  regard  for  him,  and  the  few  glimpses 
which  Boswell  affords  of  Oglethorpe  in  the  company  of 
Johnson  are  quite  important.  Once,  when  the  subject 
of  duelling  came  up,  and  the  question  was  whether  it  is 


304  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

right  or  not,  "  the  brave  old  General  fired  up,  and  said, 
with  a  lofty  air,  'Undoubtedly  a  man  has  a  right  to  de 
fend  his  honor.'  "  An  incident  of  his  youth  is  given  by 
Boswell  in  which  Oglethorpe  showed  equal  spirit  and 
tact  in  repelling  an  affront.  A  couplet  of  Pope  refers  to 
him  by  name : 

"One,  driven  by  strong  benevolence  of  soul, 
Shall  fly,  like  Oglethorpe,  from  pole  to  pole." 

A  year  before  his  death,  which  was  in  1785,  Hannah 
More  wrote  of  him  :  "  He  is  much  above  ninety  years  old, 
and  the  finest  figure  you  ever  saw.  He  perfectly  realizes 
my  ideas  of  Nestor.  His  literature  is  great,  his  knowl 
edge  of  the  world  extensive,  and  his  faculties  as  bright 
as  ever.  He  is  quite  &preux  chevalier — heroic,  romantic, 
and  full  of  gallantry." 

Even  the  preoise  date  of  Oglethorpe's  birth  is  not  de 
termined  with  certainty.  His  latest  biographer  places  it 
on  June  1,  1689.  His  father  was  an  officer  in 

His  career. 

the  army,  and  the  son  had  a  strong  military 
taste.  Hence  he  left  Corpus  Christi  College,  Oxford, 
after  a  two  year's  residence,  to  begin  his  military  life. 
He  served  at  some  time,  exactly  when  is  doubtful,  under 
Marlborough.  His  training  as  a  soldier  was  mainly  under 
Prince  Eugene,  with  whom  he  was  associated  as  secre 
tary  and  then  as  aide-de-camp.  He  had  a  share  in  one 
of  the  most  memorable  military  events  of  that  period,  the 
defeat  of  the  Turks  before  Belgrade  and  the  capture  of 
that  place.  Returning  to  England,  and  inheriting  the 
family  estate,  he  entered  Parliament  in  1732,  and  repre 
sented  the  same  borough  for  thirty-two  years.  He  was 
Hi*  plan  for  chairman  of  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Com- 
a  colony.  mOns  to  visit  prisons  and  propose  measures  of 
reform.  While  performing  this  service,  he  was  struck 
with  compassion  for  the  multitude  of  poor  debtors,  many 


GEORGIA   FROM   ITS   SETTLEMENT   TO   1756      305 

of  whom  were  merely  victims  of  misfortune,  but,  accord 
ing  to  the  cruel  laws  of  that  time,  were  shut  up,  it  might 
be,  for  the  remainder  of  their  lives.  For  their  relief,  and 
for  the  benefit  of  other  classes  of  deserving  poor,  he  de 
vised  the  plan  of  a  colony  in  America,  where  they  might 
be  comfortably  established.  It  was  necessary,  of  course, 
to  compound  with  the  creditors.  He  secured  the  co-op 
eration  of  persons  of  rank,  and  other  benevolent  people  ; 
large  funds  were  contributed,  a  board  of  trustees  was 
organized,  and  from  the  King  a  grant  was  ob-  Grant  of  ter. 
tained  of  the  territory  between  the  Savannah  ntory. 
and  the  Altamaha,  where  the  Carolinians  were  quite  will 
ing  that  new  settlements  should  be  established  as  a  bar 
rier  against  the  incursions  of  the  Spaniards  and  their  In 
dian  helpers.  The  colony  was  to  be  distinct  from  South 
Carolina.  Freedom  of  religion  was  to  be  enjoyed  by  all 
except  "papists."  For  twenty-one  years  the  province 
was  to  be  governed  by  the  corporators  and  their  succes 
sors.  Then  such  a  form  of  government  was  to  be  estab 
lished  as  the  King  should  ordain,  and  thereafter  all  its 
officers  were  to  be  appointed  by  royal  authority.  Arms 
as  well  as  tools  were  to  be  furnished  to  the  settlers. 
Grants  of  land  in  tail-male  were  to  be  made  to  them. 
For  traffic  with  the  natives  a  license  was  to  be  required. 
The  introduction  of  spiritous  liquors  and  of  negro  slaves 
was  absolutely  prohibited?  Arrangements  were  to  be 
made  for  the  cultivation  of  the  mulberry ;  and  there  was  a 
provision  for  the  breeding  of  silk- worms.  On  one  face  of 
the  seal  of  the  colony,  silk-worms  were  engraved  in  dif 
ferent  stages  of  their  labor,  to  serve  as  a  symbol  of  what 
it  was  hoped  would  be  a  leading  industry  among  the  col 
onists,  and  also  as  a  suggestion  of  the  unselfish  spirit 
that  should  prevail — the  motto  being  inscribed,  Non  sibi, 
sed  aliis.  Great  care  was  taken,  by  means  of  a  commit 
tee  and  by  other  agencies,  to  choose  the  emigrants  and  to 
20 


306  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

exclude  applicants  of  unworthy  character.  On  Novem 
ber  17,  1732,  a  company  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  per 
sons,  led  by  Oglethorpe  himself,  arrived  at  Charleston. 
The  Bet  tie-  Accompanied  by  Colonel  William  Bull,  the 
ment..  leader  proceeded  to  the  Savannah  River  and 
made  choice  of  a  site  for  the  settlement  on  an  adjacent 
bluff.  The  neighboring  Indians,  whose  chief  was  an  old 
man,  Tomo-chi-chi,  showed  themselves  friendly.  The  col 
onists  were  brought  to  the  place,  the  town,  named  Savan 
nah,  was  regularly  laid  out,  and  the  houses  were  built. 
The  superintendence  and  personal  exertions  of  Oglethorpe 
carried  forward  the  work  in  an  orderly  style.  From  a 
convention  of  chiefs  in  May,  1733,  a  title  was  acquired  to 
the  territory  described  in  the  charter.  The  convenience, 
as  well  as  the  rights  of  the  Indians  were  thoughtfully 
secured  in  the  stipulations.  The  influence  of  Tomo-chi- 
chi,  then  and  afterward,  was  invaluable.  As  the  immi 
grants  increased  in  number — among  whom  were  Italians 
from  Piedmont  to  manage  the  silk  industry — several  other 
villages  and  plantations  were  formed  on  the  Little  Ogee- 
chee  and  the  Great  Ogeechee,  and  elsewhere.  The  House 
of  Commons  appropriated  to  the  trustees  £10,000,  the 
fruits  of  the  sale  of  the  island  of  St.  Christopher.  In 
1734,  a  company  of  Protestants,  who  had  been 
from  saiz-  driven  out  of  Salzburg  for  embracing  the  re 
formed  faith,  came  over,  bringing  their  minis 
ters  with  them.  Happy  in  their  new  home,  they  finally 
settled  on  the  Savannah,  near  the  junction  of  Ebenezer 
Creek  with  that  river.  Between  them  and  the  town  of 
Savannah,  a  company  of  pious  Moravians,  with  their  pas 
tor,  Spangenberg,  planted  themselves.  Early  in  1734, 
Oglethorpe  returned  to  England,  taking  with  him  Tomo- 
chi-chi,  with  a  select  number  of  Indian  companions,  all  of 
whom  were  duly  impressed  by  the  magnificence  of  Lou- 
don,  and  gratified  by  the  presents  which  they  received.  It 


GEORGIA    FROM   ITS   SETTLEMENT  TO   1756      307 

was  essential  to  provide  for  defence  against  attacks  that 
might  be  expected  from  the  Spaniards  in  Florida.  On 
the  Altamaha,  sixteen  miles  above  the  island  of  St.  Simon, 
a  chosen  company  of  brave  Highlanders,  with  women  and 
children,  founded  the  settlement  of  New  Inverness,  in  the 
district  which  they  named  Darien.  These  were  joined  sub 
sequently  by  additional  emigrants  from  Scotland.  In  Feb 
ruary,  1736,  Oglethorpe  returned  with  a  com-  Th  colony 
pany  of  two  hundred  and  two  persons,  among  reinforced, 
whom,  besides  the  English,  were  German  Lutherans  and 
Moravians.  He  was  accompanied  by  two  young  clergy 
men,  John  and  Charles  Wesley,  whose  names  were  one 
day  to  become  famous  in  the  religious  history  of  both 
England  and  America.  By  this  new  accession  of  colo 
nists  it  was  made  possible  to  build  the  town  of  Frederica, 
on  the  island  of  St.  Simon,  which  was  planned  as  a  mili 
tary  town,  and,  with  the  water  -  battery  in  front  of  it, 
proved  to  be,  as  it  was  intended  to  be,  a  kind  of  citadel 
for  the  security  of  the  other  settlements,  and  a  bulwark 
against  Spanish  invasions.  While  the  houses  were  build 
ing,  the  colonists  were  safely  sheltered  in  bowers  of  pal 
metto  leaves.  In  1737,  Oglethorpe  secured  a  commission 
as  colonel.  He  was  appointed  to  the  chief  command  of 
the  South  Carolina  as  well  as  the  Georgia  troops. 

So  far  everything  had  gone  smoothly.  Georgia  had 
been  signally  exempt  from  the  sufferings  through  which 
nearly  all  the  other  colonies  at  the  beginning  state  of  the 
had  to  pass.  But  now  there  were  days  of  colony- 
trial.  The  culture  of  silk  proved  an  absolute  failure. 
There  was  no  profit  to  be  made  from  the  vine.  The  hot 
climate  engendered  fevers  and  other  diseases. 

Trials 

The  land  allotted  to  the  settlers  was  far  from 
being  all  productive.     There  was  a  demand  for  the  in 
troduction  of  ardent  spirits,  which  the  colonists   could 
not  be  prevented  from  procuring — although  not  without 


308  THE    COLONIAL    ERA 

much  trouble  and  expense — from  South  Carolina.  There 
was  a  still  louder  demand  for  the  introduction  of  negro 
slaves,  who  could  so  much  more  easily  endure  the  burden 
of  labor  in  that  climate.  Why,  it  was  said,  should  the 
people  be  deprived  of  an  advantage  which  was  enjoyed 
in  the  sister  colony  ?  Then  there  was  a  desire  expressed 
to  have  a  fee-simple  title  to  their  lands,  and  a  regular 
constitution  and  body  of  laws.  The  Wesleys  were  the 
occasion  of  new  and  peculiar  troubles.  John  Wesley 
John  wes-  was  a^  ^na^  time  unripe  in  his  spiritual  life. 

ley-  He  afterward  said  of  himself  that  he  was  not 
then  "  converted."  The  fact  is  that  he  was  a  ritualist 
and  an  ascetic  in  his  religious  ideas.  He  was  so  high  in 
his  churchmanship  that,  much  to  his  regret  in  later  times, 
he  refused  the  communion  to  an  excellent  man  because 
he  had  not  been  baptized  by  an  Episcopally  ordained 
clergyman.  The  number  of  services  that  he  appointed 
was  so  great  that  they  became  burdensome  and  distaste 
ful.  He  was  unwearied  in  labor,  which  his  iron  consti 
tution  enabled  him  to  bear  ;  but  he  undertook  to  be  a 
censor  of  individuals  as  well  as  of  the  community  as  a 
whole.  He  became  involved  in  a  love  affair  with  a 
young  woman  to  whom  he  taught  French,  and  this  led 
to  further  complications.  Her  uncle,  Thomas  Causton, 
first  magistrate  of  Savannah,  and  keeper  of  the  public 
stores,  became  his  enemy.  Finally,  Wesley  was  indicted, 
one  of  the  accusations  being  that  he  had  unjustifiably 
denied  the  communion  to  Causton's  niece,  who  had  mar 
ried  a  Mr.  Williamson.  Wesley  thought  it  best  to  with 
draw  from  the  colony.  Accompanied  by  a  few  persons 
he  fled  from  Savannah,  and  after  various  dangers  and  pri- 
chariesWee-  vations  succeeded  in  reaching  Charleston. 

ley-  His  brother,  Charles  Wesley,  was  equally  un 
acceptable  at  Frederica,  and  in  about  a  year  returned  to 
England.  Oglethorpe  was  absent  for  a  while  in  Eng- 


GEORGIA    FROM    ITS    SETTLEMENT   TO    1756      309 

land  to  obtain  troops  for  the  contest  with  the  Spanish, 
which  he  saw  to  be  impending.  On  coming  back  to  Sa 
vannah  he  removed  from  office  Causton,  who,  besides 
being  arbitrary  and  tyrannical,  turned  out  to  be  a  de- 
f  miter.  Ogiethorpe  did  what  he  could  to  quiet  the  dis 
turbances  at  Savannah.  He  brought  home  with  him 
some  regular  troops,  together  with  six  hundred  men 
whom  he  himself  raised. 

Ogiethorpe  visited  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees  to  keep 
them  from  being  drawn  to  the  side  of  the  Spaniards.  He 
aided  in  putting  down  the  negro  insurrection 

•      a      A.^  n        v  -u-   i,  j-v        i_    j      L-         -t  Expedition 

in  South  Carolina,  which  they  had  stirred  up.  against  St. 
He  now  determined  to  anticipate  attack  from  ugus 
the  side  of  the  Spaniards  by  capturing,  if  possible,  their 
stronghold,  St.  Augustine.  Preparations  were  elabo 
rately  made.  In  May,  1740,  he  moved  upon  the  Spanish 
capital  with  a  force  of  English  and  Indians,  numbering 
about  two  thousand  men.  There  was  to  be  a  joint  attack 
by  the  land  forces  and  by  the  English  fleet  under  Ver- 
non.  A  combination  of  adverse  circumstances  caused 
the  expedition  to  result  in  a  failure.  Among  the  occa 
sions  of  the  disaster  was  the  tardy  action  of  South  Caro 
lina  in  sending  its  aid  in  men  and  munitions  of  war,  the 
failure  of  the  fleet  to  co-operate  in  the  attack  at  the  sea 
sonable  time,  the  ill-behavior  of  the  Indians,  and  the  suc 
cess  of  the  Spaniards  in  bringing  in  through  the  Matan- 
zas  Kiver  reinforcements,  with  provisions  and  munitions. 
The  chief  benefit  of  this  abortive  attempt  was  its  effect  in 
putting  the  Spaniards  for  a  considerable  time  on  the  de 
fensive.  During  the  next  two  years  Ogiethorpe  was  en 
gaged  in  fortifying  Frederica,  and  in  making 
all  possible  preparations  to  meet  an  attack 
which  he  felt  sure  would  be  made  upon  the  col 
ony.  In  June,  1742,  a  Spanish  fleet  of  fifty-one  vessels, 
with  five  thousand  men  on  board,  appeared  off  the  island 


310  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

of  St.  Simon.  To  meet  the  assault  Oglethorpe  had  a  few 
armed  sloops  and  a  guard  schooner,  and  a  force  of  about 
six  hundred  and  fifty  men.  His  military  skill  and  cour 
age  were  assisted  by  a  lack  of  spirit  in  the  invaders,  and 
by  dissension  among  them  ;  but  his  complete  success 
could  only  have  been  gained  by  a  competent  and  heroic 
general.  Thenceforward  Georgia  was  delivered  from  the 
danger  of  a  Spanish  conquest. 

In  1741,  a  number  of  malcontents  who  had  left  Geor 
gia,  published  at  Charleston  a  clever,  but  spiteful  pam 
phlet,  respecting  the  colony  which  they  had  abandoned. 
Not  without  justice  they  accuse  Causton  of  haughtiness 
and  cruelty.  But  they  direct  their  shots  against  the 
trustees,  and  do  not  spare  Oglethorpe,  who  is  personally 
addressed  in  a  satirical  preface,  and  is  charged  with  be 
ing  overbearing  and  despotic.  He  was  a  soldier,  accus 
tomed  to  prompt  obedience,  and  it  would  appear  that  in 
the  trying  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed  he  gave 
way  to  occasional  gusts  of  temper.  But  nothing  more 
serious  can  truthfully  be  alleged  against  him.  This  caus 
tic  pamphlet  describes  the  decline  of  the  colony  in  pop- 
whitefieM  in  ulation,  and  so  far  it  is  correct.  Whitefield 

Georgia.  firgt  yisited  Georgia  in  1740.  He  was  re 
garded  with  much  more  favor  than  Wesley  had  been. 
He  founded  an  orphan -ho  use  ten  miles  from  Savannah, 
for  the  building  and  support  of  which  he  gathered  con 
tributions  in  his  wide  evangelistic  journeys.  As  already 
stated,  on  one  occasion  he  emptied  the  pockets  of  Franklin, 
although  Franklin  did  not  approve  of  the  location  chosen 
for  the  institution,  in  a  distant  and  sparsely  settled  colony. 
Whitefield  tells  us  that  he  found  Georgia  almost  deserted, 
except  by  such  as  would  not  go  away.  The  thing  most 
complained  of  was  the  exclusion  of  rum  and  negroes.  On 
this  matter  the  colonists  were  importunate  in  their  peti 
tions,  with  which  the  trustees,  much  influenced  by  White- 


GEORGIA   FROM   ITS   SETTLEMENT   TO    175G       311 

field  and  by  Habersliam,  an  inhabitant  of  the  colony,  at 
last  complied.  It  was  also  granted  that  lands  should  be 
held  in  fee- simple  and  disposed  of  at  the  will  of  the  own 
ers.  Oglethorpe  returned  to  England  in  1743.  He  did  not 
again  visit  Georgia.  The  President  and  Assistants  of  the 
county  of  Savannah  were  made  the  rulers  of  the  entire 
province.  The  first  Provincial  Assembly,  which  had  no 
power  to  legislate,  but  only  to  advise,  met  in  1751.  The 
government  of  the  trustees  had  become  more  and  more 
obnoxious.  The  trustees,  in  turn,  were  willing  to  relin 
quish  their  cares  and  responsibilities.  The  surrender  of 
formal  surrender  of  their  charter  to  the  Crown  the  charter' 
took  place  on  June  23,  1752.  The  new  government  of 
Georgia  resembled  in  general  that  of  the  other  royal 
provinces.  But  the  Governor's  powers  were  Thenewgov- 
large.  He  exercised  the  rights  of  a  chancellor, 
besides  presiding  in  the  Court  of  Errors.  He  collated  to 
all  vacant  benefices,  and  had  charge  of  the  probate  of 
wills.  He  could  suspend  any  member  of  the  Council. 
This  body  was  appointed  by  the  King,  to  hold  office  dur 
ing  the  King's  pleasure.  There  was  a  property  qualifica 
tion  for  electors  and  for  members  of  the  Lower  House. 
The  principal  privilege  of  the  Assembly  was  the  exclu 
sive  right  to  originate  bills  for  grants  of  public  money. 
The  first  of  the  royal  Governors  was  Captain  John  Rey 
nolds.  Georgia  was  not  represented  in  the  Albany  Con 
gress  of  1754. 

When  the  royal  government  was  established,  the  popu 
lation  of  the  colony  consisted  of  about  twenty-three  hun 
dred  whites  and  about  one  thousand  negro  Social  condi. 
slaves.  The  benevolent  motives  of  the  trustees 
had  not  availed  to  give  prosperity  to  the  colony.  Their 
interference  with  industry  and  production  was  well- 
meant,  but  harmful  The  cultivation  of  cotton  was  just 
beginning.  Under  the  royal  government,  the  exportation 


312  THE    COLONIAL    ERA 

of  rice,  indigo,  lumber,  and  skins  became  profitable.  It 
had  been  impossible  to  build  up  a  town  life,  and  the 
estates  were  generally  small.  There  were  no  manu 
factures.  Among  the  settlers,  as  might  be  expected,  in 
view  of  their  previous  history,  there  were  some  who  dis 
appointed  the  hopes  of  those  who  sent  them  out,  and  the 
servants  of  the  colonists  were  much  worse.  The  farmers 
were  fon  1  of  fishing  and  hunting,  and  horse-racing  came 
into  vogue.  Laws  were  passed  against  gambling  and 
betting.  There  was  a  rigorous  slave-code,  and  the  enact 
ments  indicate  the  fear  that  prevailed  of  negro  revolts. 
Education  was  left  in  the  hands  of  itinerant  school-mas 
ters,  who  are  said  to  have  been  often  addicted  to  intem 
perate  habits.  The  Church  of  England  was  established, 
and  the  people  were  taxed  for  the  support  of  it.  But  the 
Dissenters  were  numerous.  There  were  laws  for  the  ob 
servance  of  the  Sabbath,  and  to  enforce  attendance  on 
church.  The  only  literary  productions  were  controversial 
pamphlets  respecting  the  government  of  the  trustees  and 
the  proceedings  of  Oglethorpe.  But  these  were  written 
by  immigrants,  and  there  was  no  printing-press  in  the 
colony.  A  new  and  brighter  epoch  in  the  history  of 
Georgia  opens  at  about  the  time  of  the  American  Revo 
lution. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

LITERATURE  IN  THE  COLONIES 

The  Writings  of  John  Smith— Sandys— Whitaker— Early  New  Eng 
land  Writers—  Winthrop— Mather's  ' '  Magnalia  "— Hubbard — 
Prince— The  New  England  Divines— Their  Ideas  of  Provi 
dence—Absorption  in  Religion  and  Theology— The  Bay  Psalm- 
Book— Anna  Bradstreet— "  The  Day  of  Doom  "—Franklin  and 
Edwards — Legists. 

LITERARY  activity  in  the  American  colonies,  so  far  as 
printed  publications  are  concerned,  for  a  period  was  nec 
essarily  confined  to  strictly  practical  ends.  The  books 
which  the  colonists  read,  so  far  as  they  could  find  leisure 
to  read,  they  brought  over  with  them,  or  imported  later. 
Yet  in  the  mother-country  there  was  an  eager  curiosity 
to  be  gratified  respecting  the  new  world,  and  its  strange, 
dusky  inhabitants.  Especially  was  there  occasion  to  put 
in  print  in  England  descriptions  designed  to  promote  an 
interest  in  schemes  of  colonization,  or  to  repel  calum 
nies  that  were  scattered  abroad  concerning  the  behavior 
of  the  settlers.  The  earliest  writer  who  appeared  in  this 
department  of  authorship,  in  truth  the  first  in  order  of 
time  of  all  American  writers,  was  John  Smith.  His  ac 
counts  are  trustworthy,  except  the  tales  of  per- 

i        -i       11        -i  •        tfi       •          The   TOft- 
sonal  adventure  where  he  allows  nimseli  to  mm-  ings  of  John 

gle  ingredients  of  fiction  with  the  authentic 

record.     His  enthusiasm  lends  a  degree  of  fascination  to 

his   narratives,  and   in  his  spirited  "  Letter  of  Remon- 


314  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

st ranee  to  the  London  Proprietors  "  he  writes  with  point 
and  vigor.     As  Drayton  composed  an  ode  to  the  Virginia 
colonists  before  they  set  sail,  so  it  is  interesting  to  know 
that  another  English  poet  of  no  inconsiderable  merit, 
George  Sandys,  sojourned  for  a  while  at  James 
town  in  its  early  days,  and  finished  there  his 
translation  of  the  "  Metamorphoses  of  Ovid."     The  pious 
missionary,  Alexander  Whitaker,  two  years  after  he  came 
over,  wrote  the  "  Good  News  of  Virginia, "  in 

Whitaker.  ,  .   i      •  ...  /.  ™     • 

which,  in  a  clear  style,  and  in  a  tone  01  Chris 
tian  sincerity,  he  sets  forth  the  condition  and  unfolds 
the  wants  and  claims  of  the  new  colony.  Among  the  few 
Virginia  writings  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  "  Bur- 
well  Papers  "  deserve  to  be  mentioned.  They  were  dis 
covered  in  manuscript  about  a  hundred  years  after  they 
were  composed.  They  present  a  well  written  account  of 
the  rebellion  of  Bacon,  of  whom  the  anonymous  author 
was  an  adherent,  together  with  a  poem  of  high  merit, 
praising  his  virtues  and  deploring  his  death.  Several 
productions  of  Virginia  authors  of  a  later  day  are  not 
without  worth.  Beverley's  "History  of  the  Colony,"  the 
first  edition  of  which  was  printed  in  1705,  was  written  in 
a  racy  style,  and  is  marked  by  a  considerate  treatment 
of  the  Indians.  In  1747,  Stith  published  a  work  of  much 
higher  authority,  which  brought  down  the  history  of  the 
colony  to  1624.  William  Byrd,  a  man  of  fortune,  witty 
and  accomplished,  a  typical  Virginia  gentle 
man  of  the  better  class,  who  lived  in  affluence, 
and  possessed  the  best  library  in  the  South,  wrote  a 
journal  of  expeditions  in  which  he  took  part  for  fixing 
the  boundary  between  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  His 
work,  which  was  printed  from  the  manuscript  in  1841,  is 
an  intelligent  and  lively  account  of  the  region  and  the 
people  which  he  had  occasion  to  observe. 

The  first  of  the  New  England  descriptive  and  historical 


LITERATURE   IN   THE   COLONIES  315 

narratives  was  "  Mourt's  Relation,"  a  journal  by  William 
Bradford  and  Edward  Winslow  of  the  first  twelve  months 
of  the  history  of  the  Pilgrim  emigrants.  The  narrative 
was  continued  in  Win  slew's  "  Good  News  from  New 
England,"  which  was  published  in  1624.  Mor 
ton's  "Memorial,"  which  was  issued  at  Cam-  England  writ- 
bridge  in  1669,  was  derived  largely  from  Brad 
ford's  "History."  The  "History"  of  Bradford,  which 
was  first  printed  in  1856,  from  the  recovered  manu 
script,  is  the  work  of  an  educated  man  who  writes  with 
all  the  charm  of  an  artless  chronicler.  John  Winthrop, 
on  his  voyage  from  England,  composed  "A 
Model  of  Christian  Charity,"  in  which  he  de 
scribes  the  unselfish  temper  that  was  required  for  the 
success  of  the  colony  of  which  he  was  the  leader,  and 
thereby,  without  intending  it,  delineated  his  own  charac 
ter.  His  "  History  of  Massachusetts  "  is  a  diary  in  which 
he  records,  although  with  many  breaks,  the  events  which 
concerned  himself,  his  family,  and  New  England,  from 
1630  until  his  death  in  1649.  It  is  an  historical  monu 
ment  of  inestimable  value.  On  its  pages  are  reflected 
the  sagacious  and  dispassionate  mind,  and  disinterested 
temper  of  the  founder  of  Massachusetts.  Mason,  the 
hero  of  the  Pequot  war,  wrote  the  story  of  it,  and  long 
after  the  close  of  Philip's  War  a  spirited  account  of  it 
was  published  by  a  son  of  Captain  Benjamin  Church, 
from  notes  of  his  father.  In  1702  was  issued  the  "Mag- 
nalia"  of  Cotton  Mather,  a  church  history  of  Mather's 
New  England  from  1620  to  1698.  Its  learn-  "Magnaiia." 
ing,  of  which  there  was  a  pedantic  display,  was  pro 
fuse.  But  while  it  is  an  important  source  of  knowledge, 
there  is  a  lack  of  accuracy,  and  the  leading  characters, 
especially  the  ministers,  are  extolled  without  stint.  An 
important  part  of  the  value  of  the  work  at  the  present 
day  is  the  picture  which  it  presents  of  the  intellectual 


316  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

character  of  the  author  himself,  an  eminent  divine  of 

the  second  generation — somewhat  inferior  to  the  first — 

of  Massachusetts  Puritans.    William  Hubbard 

Hubbard.  .    .    ,  ....          ...          •,,-,,•,       ,., 

minister  of  Ipswich,  related  the  history  of  the 
Indian  wars,  and  a  history  of  New  England  down  to  1680, 
which  did  not  see  the  light  until  1815.  "The  History 
Prince  °^  ^ew  England,"  by  Thomas  JPrince,  the  first 

volume  of  which  was  printed  in  1736,  although 
written  in  the  dry  form  of  annals,  was  the  fruit  of  careful 
researches,  and  is  distinguished  from  preceding  works  by 
its  superior  correctness. 

The  mental  activity  of  New  England,  as  it  has  already 
been  remarked,  was  concentrated  chiefly  on  theological 

and  religious  themes.  The  ministers  were 
England  di-  well-educated  ;  they  collected  what,  for  the 

time,  were  large  libraries,  at  a  cost  bearing 
sometimes  a  great  proportion  to  the  total  amount  of 
their  property  ;  and  they  were  hard  students.  Their  fa 
vorite  authors  were  the  same  as  those  cherished  by  the 
Puritan  divines  in  England.  Cotton  had  pored  over  the 
fathers  and  schoolmen.  In  reply  to  the  inquiry  why  he 
studied  late  at  night,  he  replied  that  he  loved  to  sweeten 
his  mouth  with  a  piece  of  Calvin  before  he  went  to  sleep. 
Besides  their  sermons,  of  which  many  were  printed,  they 
composed  elaborate  treatises — such  as  the  writings  of 
Hooker,  Cotton,  and  Richard  Mather — on  church  polity. 
These  divines  and  their  contemporaries  did  not  differ  in 
the  qualities  of  their  style  from  the  Puritan  clergy  in 
England,  with  whom,  in  general  ability,  they  stood  on  a 
level.  The  same  remark  may  be  made  of  the  controver 
sial  publications  composed  by  New  England  ministers, 
such  as  thoss  which  emanated  from  Cotton  and  Roger 
Williams,  in  their  debate  on  the  question  of  the  right  and 
expediency  of  State  interference  in  matters  of  religion. 
The  quaint,  and  frequently  long,  titles  of  books  and  pam- 


LITERATURE  IN   THE   COLONIES  317 

phlets  were  conformed  to  the  fashion  that  existed  in  those 
days  in  the  mother-country.  Without  considering  in  de 
tail  the  contents  of  the  sermons  and  other  writings  of  the 
New  England  ministers  in  the  seventeenth  century,  it  will 
be  understood  that  they  taught  the  Calvinistic  doctrines. 
With  regard  to  one  article  in  their  religious  belief  and 
teaching  a  few  words  may  be  said.  They  were  not  pe 
culiar  in  cherishing  a  faith  in  the  universal  Theirideae 
Providence  of  God.  It  was  a  tenet  which  of  Provi- 
they  held  practically,  applying  it  to  all  events, 
large  and  small,  that  occurred  within  the  range  of 
their  experience.  But,  as  was  characteristic  of  much 
religious  teaching  elsewhere,  they  pushed  to  an  unwar 
rantable  extent  their  interpretation  of  the  dealings  of 
Providence,  ascribing  to  a  special  divine  judgment  for 
particular  offences,  real  or  imaginary,  whatever  calamities 
might  happen  to  men — whether  it  were  themselves  per 
sonally,  their  neighbors,  or  the  community  at  large  — 
even  when  such  calamities  could  not  be  connected  in 
the  line  of  cause  and  effect  with  transgressions  that  pre 
ceded  them.  This  habit  of  pronouncing  on  the  meaning 
of  Providence  as  regards  the  details  of  life  often  led  to 
uncharitable  and  even  ludicrous  judgments.  It  scarcely 
needs  to  be  added  that  the  religious  teachers  of  New 
England  shared  in  certain  superstitions  which  belonged 
to  the  age,  and  were  not  peculiar  to  them.  They  made 
much  of  signs  and  omens.  Increase  Mather's  two  dis 
courses,  in  1683,  on  comets,  were  occasioned,  as  the  co 
pious  title  explains,  by  "  the  late  blazing  stars,"  and  re 
lated  what-  massacres,  fires,  plagues,  tempests,  and  other 
horrors  had  followed  upon  the  appearance  of  like  celes 
tial  phenomena  at  previous  times  in  the  world's  history 
— all  ending  with  a  solemn  rebuke  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Boston,  to  whom  the  skies  had  been  the  vehicle  for  con 
veying  the  divine  threats.  Mather's  teaching  is  but  one 


318  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

of  any  number  of  illustrations  that  might  be  presented  of 
a  prevalent  mode  of  belief. 

There  was  a  class  of  Puritans  in  England  who  at  the 
same  time  that  religion  had  the  supreme  place  in  their 
thoughts  retained  a  profound  sympathy  with 
in  reHgio'n  liberal  studies  in  the  broad  sense  of  the  phrase, 
aud  theology.  It  is  ^  needful  to  mention  the  name  of  Mil 
ton,  the  noblest  exemplar  of  the  class  referred  to.  But 
Puritanism,  it  has  already  been  remarked,  tended  to  part 
company  with  the  characteristic  moods  and  influences  of 
the  Renaissance.  Such  an  effect  of  an  intense  absorption 
in  theology  was  manifest,  it  should  be  said,  wherever 
Protestantism  was  a  living  power.  In  New  England  this 
tendency  prevailed,  with  nothing  to  check  it.  Its  early 
inhabitants  were  pioneers  in  a  wilderness,  compelled  to 
extort  their  subsistence  from  a  niggardly  soil,  and  to 
contend  for  life  against  wily  and  savage  foes.  "  Chill 
Penury,"  even  by  itself,  according  to  the  poet,  is  enough 
to  freeze 

"  The  genial  current  of  the  soul." 

It  is  true,  as  we  have  said,  that  the  study  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  classics  was  always  highly  valued.  But  the  Renais 
sance  spirit  stopped  at  this  limit.  What  has  been  called 
the  "play-element"  in  the  human  mind  —  that  element 
which  gives  birth  to  the  higher  forms  of  imaginative  litera 
ture  and  art — was  dormant.  So  long  did  the  divorce  be 
tween  the  understanding  and  the  aesthetic  nature  continue, 
that  when,  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  and  in  the  first 
half  of  the  present,  the  latter  asserted  itself,  the  change 
carried  in  it  a  revolt  against  the  old  faith.  Thus,  in  part 
at  least,  is  this  revolt  to  be  accounted  for.  Among  the 
Puritans  of  old,  as  among  the  English  people  of  that  time, 
there  was  a  fondness  for  rhymes — a  jingle  of  words  which 
was  often  rather  a  jangle.  Such  was  the  character  of  the 


LITERATURE  IN   THE   COLONIES  319 

metrical  Psalms,  the  "  Bay  Psalm-Book,"  which  the  fa 
thers  of  New  England  used  in  their  public  worship,  and 
which  was  the  product  of  the  combined  exer-  The  ..Bay 
tions  of  a  number  of  divines.  Among  the  Pwfcn-Book. 
verse-makers  of  New  England  in  the  seventeenth  century 
there  is  one  name  which  has  a  higher  place  than  Anne  Brad. 
the  rest.  Anne  Bradstreet  was  a  voluminous  street- 
author  of  poems.  Her  productions  were  printed  in  1650. 
"  Among  all  this  lamentable  rubbish,"  says  Mr.  Tyler,  in 
speaking  of  them,  "there  is  often  to  be  found  such  an  in 
got  of  genuine  poetry  as  proves  her  to  have  had,  indeed, 
the  poetic  endowment."  No  other  poem  had  the  pop 
ularity  which  was  enjoyed  by  the  "Day  of  .<TheDayof 
Doom,"  a  theological  epic  of  Michael  Wiggles-  Doom." 
worth,  a  preacher  at  Maiden,  who  died  in  1705.  It  is  the 
Dies  Irce  of  New  England  ;  it  embraces  a  description  of 
the  terrors  of  the  final  judgment.  Its  circulation  is  said 
to  have  been  as  great,  proportionately,  as  that  of  "Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin "  in  our  time.  Yet  its  prosaic  texture  and 
uncouth  rhymes,  together  with  its  harsh  theology,  render 
it  now  simply  an  object  of  curiosity. 

In  truth,  in  the  colonial  period  prior  to  the  middle  of 
the  last  century  there  were  only  two  authors  who  rise 
above  a  merely  provincial  rank.  These  were  Franklin  and 
Benjamin  Franklin  and  Jonathan  Edwards.  Awards. 
Franklin  was  born  in  1706,  and  Edwards  in  1703.  They 
illustrate  respectively  the  two  sides  of  the  New  England 
character  ;  the  one,  its  strong  understanding,  sagacity, 
and  thrift ;  the  other,  its-  profound  religious  spirit,  and 
tbs'deep  interest  felt  in  the  problems  and  truths  of 
religion.  Franklin  had  the  genuine  eighteenth-century 
spirit.  His  philosophy  was  empirical ;  he  wras  bent  on 
improving  the  condition  of  society  on  the  material  side  ; 
his  inventiveness  went  out  in  this  direction.  His  ethical 
maxims  were  prudential.  He  was  a  typical  burgher.  He 


320  THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

wrote  in  a  simple,  engaging  style.  His  essays  on  scien 
tific  matters  were  lauded  for  their  clearness  and  preci 
sion.  Edwards  from  his  early  youth  was  a  metaphysician. 
He  delighted  in  exploring  the  most  abstruse  questions 
in  philosophy  and  theology.  He  was  a  master  of  logical 
art.  He  was  at  once  speculative  and  deeply  religious  in 
his  mental  habit.  He  was  a  most  acute  disputant,  and 
he  discoursed  from  his  own  enraptured  experience  on  the 
reality  of  spiritual  light.  His  writings  have  exerted  a  pow 
erful  influence  on  thought,  both  in  America  and  in  Great 
Britain.  He  was  the  founder  of  a  school  of  theologians  in 
whose  hands  Calvinism  has  undergone  important  modifi 
cations.  Perhaps  no  other  man  has  so  strongly  affected 
American  religious  life. 

It  was  not  until  the  epoch  of  the  American  Revolution 
was  approaching,  that,  in  connection  with   the  political 
questions  which  then  arose,  there  sprang  up 
in  the  colonies  a  class  of  able  legists,  whose 
discussions,  continued  through  the  period  of  the  forma 
tion  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  are  important  contribu 
tions  to  political  science. 


APPENDIX 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 

A.   D. 

Columbus  discovers  San  Salvador,  Cuba,  etc 1492 

Discovery  of  North  America  by  John  Cabot 1497 

Vasco  da  Gama  doubles  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 1497 

Columbus  discovers  the  mainland  of  South  America 1498 

Gaspar  Cortereal  visits  the  Newfoundland  coast 1500 

Second  voyage  of  Cortereal 1501 

Florida  discovered  and  named  by  Ponce  de  Leon 1513 

Invasion  of  Mexico  by  Cortez 1519 

Verrazano  sails  directly  west  to  America 1524 

Pizarro  sails  from  Panama  for  the  conquest  of  Peru 1524 

Carder's  voyage  to  Canada 1534 

De  Soto's  expedition  from  the  coast  of  Florida 1539 

Coronation  of  Queen  Mary 1553 

Coronation  of  Queen  Elizabeth 1558 

French  settlement  in  Florida 1562 

Frobisher's  first  voyage  to  the  N.  W 1576 

Sir  H.  Gilbert's  first  expedition 1578 

Sir  H.  Gilbert's  second  expedition 1583 

Amadas  and  Barlow  sent  out  by  Raleigh 1584 

Raleigh's  first  colony 1585 

Raleigh's  second  colony 1587 

Defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada 1588 

"VVeymouth's  voyage 1602 

Gosnold's  expedition  to  Massachusetts 1602 

The  London  and  the  Plymouth  Companies  chartered 1606 

Settlement  of  Jamestown 1607 

Emigration  of  the  Scrooby  congregation  to  Holland 1608 

Founding  of  Quebec  by  Champlain 1608 

21 


322  APPENDIX 

A.   D. 

Enlarged  charter  of  Virginia 1609 

Hudson  discovers  Manhattan  and  the  Hudson  River 1609 

Block  explores  the  Connecticut  River 1614 

Dutch  West  India  Company  formed 1618 

Settlement  of  Plymouth  by  the  Pilgrims 1620 

The  Council  for  New  England  incorporated 1620 

Settlement  of  New  Netherland  begins 1621 

Massacre  in  Virginia  b\  the  Indians , 1622 

Virginia  charter  annulled 1624 

John  Endicott  arrives  at  Salem 1628 

Grant  of  New  Hampshire  to  John  Mason 1629 

Settlement  of  Winthrop  and  his  company 1630 

The  Maryland  charter  issued  to  Cecilius  Calvert 1632 

Settlement  of  Maryland 1634 

Settlement  of  Connecticut 1635 

The  Council  for  New  England  resigns  its  patent 1635 

Roger  Williams  in  Rhode  Island 1636 

Establishment  of  Harvard  College 1636 

The  Pequot  War 1637 

Settlement  of  New  Haven 1638 

Planting  of  Exeter  (N.  H.)  by  Wheelwright  and  others 1638 

Grant  of  Maine  by  charter  to  Gorges 1639 

Union  of  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts 1641 

Founding  of  Montreal 1642 

Beginning  of  the  Civil  War  in  England 1642 

New  England  Confederation  formed 1643 

Patent  of  Providence  given  to  Roger  Williams 1644 

Execution  of  Charles  1 1649 

Coddington  in  power  in  Rhode  Island  1651 

Subversion  of  the  Proprietary  government  in  Maryland 1654 

Battle  at  Providence,  Maryland 1655 

Quakers  in  Massachusetts 1656 

Proprietary  government  restored  in  Maryland 1658 

The  Restoration  :  Charles  II.,  King  of  England 1660 

Grant  of  Carolinas  by  Charles  II 1663 

New  charter  of  Rhode  Island 1663 

Conquest  of  New  Netherland  by  the  English 1664 

Union  of  New  Haven  and  Connecticut 1665 

Settlement  of  Elizabeth  (N.  J.) 1665 

Locke's  Constitution  for  Carolina 1669 

Frontenac  at  Quebec 1672 


APPENDIX  323 


A.  D. 


Recovery  of  New  York  by  the  Dutch 1673 

Marquette's  explorations 1673 

New  York  restored  to  the  English 1674 

King  Philip's  War 1675 

Rebellion  of  Bacon  in  Virginia 1676 

Division  of  New  Jersey  into  East  and  West 1676 

Charter  to  William  Penn  signed 1681 

La  Salle  on  the  Mississippi 1682 

Penn's  "  Frame  of  Government  " 1682 

Charter  of  Massachusetts  annulled 1684 

Virginia  a  royal  province 1684 

Death  of  Charles  II. ;  accession  of  James  II 1685 

New  England  colonies  under  a  Governor  and  Council 1686 

New  York  under  a  Governor  and  Council 1686 

Andros  demands  the  Connecticut  charter 1687 

The  East  Jersey  Proprietors  surrender  their  patent 1688 

Landing  of  William  of  Orange  in  England 1688 

Revolution  in  Massachusetts  ;  Leisler  in  power  in  New  York  ; 

Coode's  successful  rising  in  Maryland 1689 

King  William's  War 1689-97 

Execution  of  Leisler  in  New  York  ;  Provincial  charter  of 
Massachusetts  ;  the  annexing  of  Plymouth  to  Massachu 
setts  ;  the  New  York  Bill  of  Rights 1691 

The  witchcraft  delusion  in  Massachusetts 1692 

Maryland  a  royal  colony 1692 

First  class  graduates  at  William  and  Mary  College 1700 

Penn  grants  a  new  charter  ;  Yale  College  chartered  ;  West 

Jersey  Proprietors  surrender  their  rights  of  government.  1701 

Union  of  the  Jerseys 1702 

Queen  Anne's  war  ;  "  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession  ".1702-12 
Separate  Assemblies  in  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware  ;  war  in 

South  Carolina  with  Apalatchees 1703 

War  in  North  Carolina  with  the  Tuscaroras 1711 

Treaty  of  Utrecht  ;  Acadia  given  to  the  English 1713 

Death  of  Queen  Anne  ;  accession  of  George  1 1714 

War  in  South  Carolina  with  the  Yemassees 1715 

Subversion  of  Proprietary  rule  in  South  Carolina 1721 

Charter  of  the  Carolinas  surrendered  by  the  Proprietors 1729 

The  settlement  of  Georgia 1733 

The  '4  Great  Awakening"  in  New  England  begins 1734 

Georgia  threatened  by  the  Spaniards .  1736 


324  APPENDIX 

A.  D. 

War  of  England  with  Spain 1739 

Invasion  of  Florida  by  Oglethorpe 1740 

Negro  plot  in  New  York 1741 

Invasion  of  Georgia  by  the  Spaniards 1742 

King  George's  war 1744-48 

Capture  of  Louisburg 1745 

Foundation  of  Princeton  College 1746 

Washington  a  messenger  from  Dinwiddie  to  the  Ohio  val 
ley  1753 

Charter  of  King's  College  in  New  York 1754 

Washington  attacks  Juinonville  :  surrenders  Fort  Necessity.  1754 

Braddock's  defeat 1755 

Declaration  of  war  by  England  and  France 1756 


n. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE* 

"Winsor's  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America"  is  in 
eight  large  octavo  volumes.  It  is  not  a  consecutive  narrative, 
but  a  collection  of  distinct  historical  and  bibliographical  essays. 
The  historical  essays  are  of  unequal  value.  Some  of  them — for 
example,  those  of  the  Editor  on  "  New  England  (1689-1763)  "  and 
on  other  topics,  those  of  Mr.  Charles  Deane  on  the  "  Voyages  of 
the  Cabots,"  and  on  "  New  England,"  the  essay  of  Professor  F.  B. 
Dexter  on  "  The  Pilgrims'  Church  and  Plymouth  Colony,"  that 
of  Mr.  F.  D.  Stone  on  "  The  Founding  of  Pennsylvania*' — are  of 
great  value.  The  volumes  are  furnished  with  numerous  maps, 
portraits,  and  fac-similes  of  autographs  and  of  extracts  from 
M8S.  Vol.  viii.  (1889)  contains  an  index,  but  this  does  not  super 
sede  the  more  full  indexes  of  the  several  preceding  volumes.  The 
bibliographical  information  is  minute  and  exhaustive.  The  work 
traverses  the  main  parts  of  American  history.  It  treats  with 
much  detail  of  the  early  voyages  and  discoveries.  These  volumes 
are  an  invaluable  guide  for  the  student. 

''Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States"  (6  vols. ,  author's 
last  revision,  1888)  is  founded  on  protracted,  unwearied  investiga 
tions.  There  was  the  utmost  painstaking  in  the  choice  of  the 
phraseology,  in  order  to  secure  at  once  vividness  and  exactness. 
The  outcome  of  long  and  diligent  researches  is  frequently  con 
densed  in  a  few  carefully  chosen  words.  The  work  is  generally 
accurate.  There  are  faults  of  style.  The  manner  is  rhetorical, 
and  interspersed  in  the  narrative  are  episodes  of  ornate  disquisition. 
The  later  revised  editions  omit  the  foot-notes.  Hence  the  earlier 
issues  are  still  valuable  to  the  historical  inquirer. 

Hildreth's  "  History  of  the  United  States"  is  based  on  consci 
entious  studies.  The  author  had  a  legal  training,  and  was  bent 

*  This  Note  makes  no  pretension  to  the  character  of  a  complete  bibliography 
of  the  subject.  It  is  a  selection  of  titles,  to  which  are  added  short  comment?, 
Buch  as  may  be  useful  to  younger  students, 


326  APPENDIX 

on  being  impartial.  The  style  is  clear,  and  virile  to  the  verge  of 
bluntness.  As  regards  the  colonial  era,  the  work  is  void  alike  of 
the  attractions  and  the  dangers  of  a  sympathetic  narrative. 

Bryant  and  Gay's  "  History  of  the  United  States"  (in  four  large 
volumes)  is  an  illustrated  work.  The  narrative  is  graphic  and 
detailed. 

Frothingham's  "Rise  of  the  Republic  of  the  United  States" 
(1  vol.)  opens  with  a  concise  review  of  movements  in  the  direc 
tion  of  union  among  the  colonies. 

Of  Doyle's  "English  Colonies  in  America"  three  volumes  have 
been  published,  one  of  which  relates  to  Virginia,  Maryland,  and 
the  Carolinas,  and  the  other  two  are  upon  the  New  England  Col 
onies.  Mr.  Doyle  is  an  Englishman.  He  draws  his  knowledge  of 
the  subject  from  the  original  sources,  and  writes  with  ability  and 
independence  of  judgment.  An  American  student  rinds  it  inter 
esting  and  instructive  to  look  at  our  early  history  from  an  English 
point  of  view. 

Lodge's  "  Short  History  of  the  English  Colonies  in  America" 
relates  the  history  of  each  colony  separately  down  to  1765.  The 
chapters  on  the  condition  of  the  several  colonies  in  1765,  rest  upon 
extensive  researches,  and  are  extremely  interesting.  The  outlines 
of  the  political  history  of  each  colony,  although  the  author,  in  refer 
ence  to  these  chapters,  makes  "  no  pretence  to  original  research," 
are  written  in  an  enlightened  spirit. 

Thwaites's  brief  history,  "The  Colonies,  1492-1750,"  is  a  very 
condensed  narrative.  It  exhibits  much  care  in  its  composition. 
It  is  furnished  with  good  maps,  and  references  to  books  on  the 
several  topics. 

Doyle's  short  "  History  of  the  United  States  "  (1  vol.),  edited 
by  President  F.  A.  Walker,  is  a  good  epitome,  but  is  of  necessity 
meagre  in  its  treatment  of  the  colonial  period. 

There  are  two  other  works  of  note,  of  an  earlier  date,  by  Brit 
ish  authors.  The  one  is  "  Political  Annals  of  the  Present  United 
Colonies,  from  their  Settlement  to  1763,"  by  George  Chalmers 
(Book  I.,  London,  1780).  Chalmers  had  investigated  the  subject, 
and  writes  in  a  dispassionate  tone.  He  thinks  that  the  govern 
ment  of  Massachusetts  under  the  patent  was  against  English  law, 
and  condemns  the  treatment  of  theological  dissentients.  "The 
History  of  the  United  States  of  North  America,  from  the  Planting 
of  the  British  Colonies  until  their  Assumption  of  Independence," 
by  James  Grahame,  in  the  Boston  edition  (4  vols.,  1845),  has  pre- 


APPENDIX  327 

fixed  to  it  a  memoir  of  the  author  by  Josiali  Quincy.  Grahame  had 
a  warm  attachment  to  America.  He  studied  its  history  with  ar 
dent  interest.  He  is  in  full  sympathy  with  the  principles  of  the 
Puritans,  and  defends  their  treatment  of  religious  dissentients. 

Among  English  histories,  Gardiner's  "History  of  England, 
from  1603  to  1643,"  and  his  volumes  on  the  "  History  of  the  Civil 
War  in  England,"  are  to  be  especially  commended. 

B.  P.  Poore's  "Collection  of  the  Federal  and  State  Constitu 
tions,  Colonial  Charters,  and  other  Organic  Laws  of  the  United 
States"  (2  vols.,  pp.  2102),  is  extremely  useful  to  the  student  of  co 
lonial  history.  Force's  Collection  of  Historical  Tracts  (4  vols.) 
contains  various  early  writings  relating  to  the  colonies,  north 
and  south. 

Three  volumes  of  the  Calendars  of  State  Papers  from  the  British 
Record  Office,  relate  to  America  and  the  West  Indies  :  They  are 
Vols.  I.,  V.,  and  VII.,  of  the  Colonial  Series.  They  contain  very 
valuable  materials  for  the  historian.  In  respect  to  Vol.  I.,  the 
Editor,  Mr.  Sainsbury,  says  :  "  The  history  of  the  prorince  [Vir 
ginia]  can  nowhere  be  so  fully  and  so  authentically  illustrated  as 
in  these  rarely  consulted  State  Papers."  In  Vol.  V.  (1661-1668) 
we  have  documents  pertaining  to  the  contests  with  Massachusetts 
in  that  eventful  period,  to  the  fugitive  Regicides,  Berkeley's  ad 
ministration  in  Virginia,  to  Carolina,  New  York,  etc.  In  Vol. 
VII.,  are  the  "  Shaftesbury  Papers"  relating  to  the  Carolinas, 
documents  about  the  relations  of  Massachusetts  and  Maine,  etc. 
There  is  much  in  Vols.  V.  and  VII.  on  the  sending  of  convicts,  and 
emigrants  spirited  away,  to  Virginia.  In  the  "Domestic  Series" 
of  the  Calendars  are  interesting  documents  connected  with  the 
voyages,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  of  Hawkins,  Gilbert,  Drake, 
and  others. 

The  best  history  of  American  literature  is  that  by  Tyler  (2  vols.). 
Richardson's  work  is  shorter  (1  vol.),  and  Beers's  very  short, 
but  excellent.  Extracts  from  the  early  writers  are  given  in  Sted- 
man  and  Hutchinson's  "  Library  of  American  Literature." 

Palfrey's  "  History  of  New  England"  embraces  five  volumes, 
the  last  of  which  is  posthumous.  In  the  recent  literature  it  is 
the  principal  authority  on  the  subject.  Dr.  Palfrey  was  an  able 
and  accomplished  man,  eminent  both  as  a  scholar  and  a  writer. 
He  spared  no  pains  in  the  study  of  the  documentary  sources  at 
home  and  abroad.  The  full  marginal  references  in  the  work  ena 
ble  the  reader  to  test  the  author's  correctness.  The  objection  is 


H28  APPENDIX 

often  made  that  in  his  exposition  of  Puritan  history — of  Massa 
chusetts  history  in  particular— Palfrey  lacks  impartiality,  is  too 
apologetic.  There  may  be  ground  occasionally  for  this  criticism  ; 
yet  he  was  not  in  sympathy  with  the  Puritan  theology,  and  his 
historical  opinions  grew  up  spontaneously,  in  the  process  of  his 
studies  and  reflections.  A  writer  so  well  qualified  for  his  task, 
and  so  thorough  in  the  performance  of  it,  is  not  likely  to  be  soon 
superseded. 

Mr.  John  Fiske,  in  his  readable  volume  on  "  The  Beginnings  of 
New  England  ;  or,  The  Puritan  Theocracy  in  its  Relations  to  Civil 
and  Religious  Liberty  "  (1889),  by  his  philosophical  views  of  his 
tory  in  general,  and  his  more  catholic  tone,  furnishes  an  agreeable 
antidote  to  various  intemperate  assaults  upon  the  fathers  of  New 
England.  Mr.  Fiske's  volume  carries  the  history  as  far  as  1688. 
Bacon's  "Genesis  of  the  New  England  Churches  "  (1  vol. ,  1874)  is  a 
work  of  much  value.  Weeden  in  his  "  Economic  and  Social  His 
tory  of  New  England  "  (2  vols.,  1890)  has  brought  together,  under 
different  heads,  a  large,  miscellaneous  collection  of  facts  on  the 
subject  to  which  it  relates. 

One  of  the  best  of  the  State  histories  is  Belknap's  "  History  of 
New  Hampshire,"  of  which  the  first  volume  appeared  in  1784,  and 
the  second  and  third  in  1791-2.  Barry's  "History  of  Massachu 
setts"  (3  vols.,  1855-57)  is  more  complete  than  any  other,  but  is 
not  a  strong  book.  Baylies's  "  History  of  New  Plymouth,  1608- 
1682  "  (2  vols. ,  1866),  is  a  full  account  of  the  Pilgrim  Colony.  The 
"Memorial  History  of  Boston,"  edited  by  Mr.  Justin  Winsor,  an 
extended  work  in  four  volumes,  is  very  instructive,  not  only  in 
reference  to  Boston,  but,  also,  respecting  the  Colony  and  State. 
The  first  volume  is  devoted  to  the  early  and  colonial  period. 
Lodge's  "  Boston  "  (1891),  in  the  Series  of  Historic  Towns,  has 
much  to  say  on  colonial  matters.  The  best  history  of  Rhode 
Island  is  that  of  Arnold  (2  vols.,  1859-60).  "  The  Life  of  Roger 
Williams"  has  been  written  by  Knowles,  Elton,  and  Gammell 
(1845).  Trumbull's  "History  of  Connecticut"  (1  vol.,  1797,  2 
vols.,  1818)  is  thorough  and  trustworthy.  The  brief  "  History  of 
Connecticut,"  by  Johnston  (1  vol.,  1887)  in  the  Commonweal Ih 
Series,  propounds  some  untenable  views  concerning  the  constitu 
tion  of  the  Connecticut  colony.  Bacon's  Historical  Discourses 
(1  vol.,  1839),  on  the  early  history  of  New  Haven,  is  the  fruit  of 
careful  researches.  The  same  is  true  of  the  Life  of  Hooker,  by 
G.  L.  Walker,  in  the  Makers  of  America  Series. 


APPENDIX  329 

The  original  authorities  relating  to  the  history  of  New  England 
are  to  a  large  extent  accessible  in  modern  editions.  Arber's  edition 
of  John  Smith's  writings  includes  his  "  Description  of  New  Eng 
land"  (1616),  and  his  "New  England's  Trials  ''  (1622).  Bradford's 
"  History  of  the  Plymouth  Colony  "  was  edited  by  that  learned 
scholar  in  American  history,  Mr.  Charles  Deane  (1856).  Morton's 
"  New  England's  Memorial "  is  found  to  have  been  largely  bor 
rowed  from  Bradford.  Young's  "  Chronicles  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers"  (1844)  contains  Winslow's  "Journal  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony"  (1622),  and  his  "  Good  News  from  New  England"  (1624). 
Of  early  writings  unfriendly  to  New  England,  Morton's  "  New 
English  Canaan,"  has  been  edited  by  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams,  Maverick's 
"A  Description  of  New  England,"  by  Mr.  Charles  Deane,  and 
Lechford's  "  Plain  Dealing  in  New  England,"  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Trum- 
bull.  In  all  these  editions,  the  notes  added  are  highly  important. 
Winthrop's  "Diary,"  or  "  History  of  Massachusetts,"  is  a  work 
of  priceless  worth.  Mr.  Savage's  edition  of  it  (1853)  contains  illus 
trative  notes  of  much  importance.  The  publication  by  the  Mas 
sachusetts  Historical  Society  of  Sewall's  "Diary,"  puts  us  in 
possession  of  a  picture  of  Massachusetts— and  indeed  of  New 
England — at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  and  in  the  early  years  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  which  is  parallel  in  interest  with  AVin- 
throp.  In  connection  with  AVinthrop's  Diary  should  be  mentioned 
his  Life  and  Letters  (1869),  by  Mr.  R.  C.  AA7inthrop.  A  brief,  but 
interesting,  "Life  of  Wintlirop,"  by  J.  H.  Twichell,  is  in  the 
Makers  of  America  Series.  Hubbard's  "  History  of  New  England  " 
was  based  on  AATinthrop  and  Morton,  from  which  he  borrowed 
largely.  Poole's  edition  (1867)  of  Edward  Johnson's  "  Wonder 
working  Providence  of  Zion's  Saviour  in  New  England  "  (1654) 
is  enriched  with  accurate  editorial  notes.  Certain  peculiarities  of 
the  early  ecclesiastical  system  are  clearly  explained  by  Mr.  Poole. 
Governor  Hutchinson's  "  History  of  Massachusetts  Bay,"  of  which 
the  first  volume  reaches  down  to  1691,  was  composed  by  one  who 
had  access  to  original  sources,  some  of  which  are  no  longer  ex 
tant.  Mason's  "History  of  the  Pequod  War "  is  in  the  Collec 
tion  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Third  Series,  vol.  iii. 
The  story  of  King  Philip's  AArar  is  given  by  Hubbard,  "Present 
State  of  New  England,"  etc.  (1677),  and  in  Church's  (well-named) 
"Entertaining  Passages  Relating  to  Philip's  AArar"  (1716),  edited 
by  H.  M.  Dexter  (1865).  Mr.  J.  H.  Trumbull's  *'  The  True  Blue 
Laws  of  Connecticut  and  New  Haven,  and  the  False  Blue  Laws," 


330  APPENDIX 

etc.  (1876),  exposes  the  inventions  in  Pcters's  "History  of  Con 
necticut  "  (1781),  which  are  still  occasionally  cited  as  facts. 

The  writings  of  Roger  Williams  have  been  issued  by  the  Nar- 
ragansett  Club.  Of  special  consequence  are  his  publications  in  the 
debate  with  Cotton  on  religious  liberty  :  "  The  Bloudy  Tenent  of 
Persecution,"  first  printed  in  1644,  and  his  Rejoinder  to  Cotton's 
Answer.  The  discussion  of  Williams  and  Cotton  was  closed  by 
Cotton's  "A  Reply  to  Mr.  Williams,  his  Examination,"  etc. 
This  writing,  which  is  very  important  to  the  understanding  of  the 
causes  of  the  banishment  of  Williams,  was  ably  edited  by  Pro 
fessor  J.  L.  Diman  (vol.  ii.  of  the  Narragansett  Club  Series). 
"  The  Treatment  of  Intruders  and  Dissentients  by  the  Founders 
of  Massachusetts,"  is  instructively  considered  by  Dr.  G.  E.  Ellis 
in  a  volume  of  Lowell  Lectures  (1869).  "As  to  Roger  Williams," 
by  Dr.  H.  M.  Dexter,  is  by  an  author  learned  in  New  England 
history.  Among  the  writings  on  the  Antinomian  Controversy 
we  have  "John  Wheelwright,  his  Writings,"  etc.,  by  Charles 
H.  Bell,  A.M.,  printed  for  the  Prince  Society,  Boston,  1876.  It 
contains  Wrheelwright's  famous  Fast-Day  Sermon,  and  his  vindi 
cation  of  it. 

Very  important  documents  are  the  "  Records  of  the  Massachu 
setts  Government  from  1629  to  1684  "  (6  vols.,  edited  by  Shurtleff) ; 
the  "Colonial  Records  of  Connecticut''  (15  vols.,  edited  by  J.  H. 
Trumbull  and  C.  J.  Hoadley) ;  the  "Colonial  Records  of  New 
Haven"  (2  vols.,  edited  by  C.  J.  Hoadly)  ;  the  "Rhode  Island 
Oolonial  Records"  (10  vols.,  edited  by  J.  R.  Bartlett).  The  col 
lections  of  the  Historical  Societies  of  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Isl 
and,  Connecticut,  and  New  Haven  contain  very  valuable  mate 
rials  for  the  history  of  New  England. 

The  "  History  of  New  York,  down  to  1732,"  by  William  Smith, 
was  first  printed  in  London  in  1757.  (Later  editions,  Philadel 
phia,  1792  ;  Albany,  1814.)  Posthumous  continuation  to  1762 
(New  York,  1829).  Smith  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  dissent 
ing  element  in  New  York.  The  "  History  of  New  York,"  by  J. 
R.  Brodhead  (1st  vol.,  revised  ed.  1872,  2d  vol.,  1871),  extends 
over  the  period  from  1609,  the  date  of  the  discovery,  to  1691.  It  is 
an  elaborate  work,  founded  on  exhaustive  researches,  and  written 
with  great  care.  The  author  is  fully  appreciative  of  the  merits  of 
the  Dutch,  and  shows  a  lively  antipathy  to  the  New  England  Puri 
tans.  A  good  popular  "History  of  New  York,"  by  Eilis  H.  Rob 
erts  (2  vols.,  1887),  is  in  the  Commonwealth  Series.  Mr.  Roose- 


APPENDIX  331 

velt's  "  New  York"  (1891),  in  the  Historic  Towns  Series,  is  an 
interesting  volume.  An  account  of  the  early  Dutch  writings  re 
specting  New  York  is  given  in  Wiusor's  "  Narrative  and  Criti 
cal  History,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  409  seq.  The  "  Documents  Relating  to 
the  Colonial  History  of  New  York,"  in  eleven  quarto  volumes, 
contain  a  mass  of  valuable  materials  procured  by  Mr.  Brodhead 
in  Europe.  Four  volumes  of  "  Documents  Relating  to  the  His 
tory  of  the  Colony  from  1604  to  1799  "  were  published  in  1849-54. 
Several  additional  volumes  of  Documents  have  been  edited  by 
Mr.  Fernow.  The  collections  of  the  New  York  Historical  So 
ciety  are  important. 

Samuel  Smith's  "  History  of  the  Colony  of  Nova  Csesarea,  or 
New  Jersey,  to  1721"  (1  vol.,  1765  ;  2d  ed.,  1877),  is  derived 
partly  from  sources  not  now  accessible.  The  ' '  New  Jersey  Ar 
chives  "  is  intended  to  embrace  in  its  series  of  volumes  all  colo 
nial  documents  of  importance.  Whitehead's  "  East  Jersey  under 
the  Proprietary  Governments"  <2d  ed.,  1875)  was  first  issued  as 
vol.  i.  of  the  "  Collections  of  the  New  Jersey  Historical  Society." 
It  is  prepared  with  much  care.  Earlier  writings  on  New  Jer 
sey  history  are  noticed  in  "Winsor,  vol.  iii. ,  p.  449  seq. 

Frond's  "History  of  Pennsylvania,  from  1681  to  1742,"  is 
a  meritorious  work.  It  was  published  in  1797-98.  Burden's 
"History  of  Friends  in  America"  (1850-54)  is  by  a  Quaker, 
and  contains  the  history  of  Pennsylvania.  Watson's  "  Annals  of 
Philadelphia"  is  full  respecting  the  life  of  the  early  settlers.  A 
number  of  extremely  valuable  collections  of  documents  have  been 
issued  by  Mr.  Samuel  Hazard  :  "Annals  of  Pennsylvania"  (1609- 
82),  "Votes  of  the  Assembly,"  "Colonial  Records,"  "Pennsyl 
vania  Archives,"  and  "  Duke  of  York's  Laws."  The  titles  are 
given  in  full  in  Winsor,  vol.  iii.,  p.  510.  The  most  important  of 
Peun's  writings  relating  to  the  colony  is  the  "  Letter  from  Will 
iam  Penn "  (1683).  Two  other  early  publications  are  also  of 
great  interest,  "The  Planter's  Speech,"  etc.  (1684),  and  Budd's 
"Good  Order  Established  in  Pennsylvania  "  (1685).  Gabriel 
Thomas's  "Description  of  Philadelphia  and  of  the  Province" 
was  printed  in  London  in  1698.  He  came  over  in  1681.  Extracts 
are  given  in  Watson's  "History  of  Philadelphia,"  vol.  i.,  p.  66 
seq.  An  epitome  and  partial  translation  of  the  "  Description  of 
Pennsylvania,"  by  Pastorius,  the  leader  in  the  settlement  of  Ger- 
mantown,  is  in  the  "  Memoirs  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Penn 
sylvania,  vol.  iv. ,  part  2,  p.  83  seq.  Of  much  worth  are  the  "  His- 


332  APPENDIX 

tory  of  the  Quakers,"  by  Sewel  (the  first  edition  in  1722),  and  that 
by  Janney  (4  vols.,  1860-67).  Janney  is  the  author  of  the  best 
"Life  of  Penn"  (1852).  An  "Earlier  Life,"  a  standard  work,  is 
by  Clarkson.  "Perm's  Collected  Writings''  have  passed  through 
several  editions  since  the  first  issue  in  1726.  The  "  Memoirs  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society  "  present  much  information 
on  the  early  history.  For  further  bibliographical  statements  on 
the  subject,  see  Winsor,  vol.  iii.,  p.  495  seq. 

Chalmers  in  his  political  "Annals  of  the  Present  United  Colo 
nies"  (London,  1780)  goes  over  the  early  history  of  Maryland. 
Bozman's  "The  History  of  Maryland,  from  1633  to  1660,"  is 
founded  on  wide  researches,  and  is  an  accurate  work.  Burnap's 
"Life  of  Leonard  Calvert,"  in  Sparks's  American  Biography, 
gives  an  outline  of  the  history  of  the  colony  to  1647.  Scharf's 
"  History  of  Maryland  "  (3  vols.,  1879)  is  copious,  and  brings  the 
narrative  down  to  the  present  time.  "Maryland,"  in  the  Com 
monwealth  Series,  is  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  William  Hand  Browne, 
who  is  also  the  author  of  the  "  Lives  of  George  Calvert  and  Ce- 
cilius  Calvert "  in  the  Makers  of  America  Series.  Both  of  these 
works  are  instructive.  Mr.  Browne  writes  in  warm  sympathy 
with  the  founders  of  Maryland,  and  is  convinced  of  the  injustice 
of  Penn  in  relation  to  the  boundary  dispute.  On  the  question  of 
Maryland  toleration,  the  motives  and  extent  of  it,  there  are  many 
controversial  publications.  It  was  taken  up  in  the  discussions  of 
Manning  and  Gladstone,  in  1875.  On  this  subject,  what  Rev.  E. 
D.  Neill  has  written  in  his  "Terra  Marias,"  etc.  (1867),  in  his 
"  English  Colonization  of  America,"  and  in  other  writings,  is  im 
portant.  Other  references  on  this  topic  are  in  Winsor  (vol.  iii.,  p. 
561  seq.). 

Among  the  early  documentary  writings  on  the  history  of  Mary 
land  the  following  are  of  special  interest  :  "  A  Relation  of  Mary 
land"  (1635),  written  under  the  supervision  of  Baltimore.  "Ex 
tracts  from  Original  Letters  of  the  Jesuit  Missionaries  "  (with  notes 
by  Dr.  Dalrymple)  were  published  by  the  Maryland  Historical 
Society  in  1874  and  1877.  Baltimore's  pamphlet,  ' '  The  Lord  Bal 
timore's  Case,"  etc.,  appeared  in  1653,  and  the  answrer  to  it,  "  Vir 
ginia  and  Maryland,"  etc.,  in  1656.  The  volumes  of  "  Maryland 
Archives,"  published  by  the  State,  and  edited  by  Mr.  Browne, 
throw  much  light  on  its  early  history. 

The  early  work  of  Beverle3r,  the  "  History  of  Virginia"  (1705), 
is  vivid  in  its  descriptions  of  natural  objects  and  of  the  Indians. 


APPENDIX  333 

Keith's  "History  of  Virginia"  (1738)  leans  on  Beverlcy.  The 
first  accurate  work,  which  is  valuable  at  present,  on  the  subject, 
is  Stith's  "  History  of  the  First  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  Vir 
ginia"  (1747).  Charles  Campbell  is  the  author  of  a  "  History  of 
the  Colony  and  Ancient  Dominion  of  Virginia  down  to  1783," 
a  work  of  considerable  merit.  E.  D.  NeilPs  work,  "  English 
Colonization  in  America  in  the  Seventeenth  Century  " — which  is 
the  title  of  the  later  English  edition— is  founded  on  the  original 
"  Records  of  the  Virginia  Company."  "  Virginia"  (1883),  in  the 
Commonwealth  Series,  is  by  John  Esten  Cooke.  Mr.  Cooke  car 
ries  the  narrative  down  to  the  present  time.  He  presents  many 
interesting  details.  He  defends,  on  insufficient  grounds,  the  Poca- 
hontas  story.  On  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  Virginia,  Dr.  F.  L. 
Hawks's  "  Contributions,"  etc.  (1836),  and  Bishop  Meade's  ''Old 
Churches,"  etc.  (1855),  are  to  be  mentioned.  McConnell's  "  His 
tory  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church"  (1890)  is  written  in  a 
lucid,  racy  style,  and  brings  out  interesting  facts. 

"  The  Genesis  of  the  United  States,"  by  Alexander  Brown  (2 
vols.,  1890),  is  a  thorough  account,  based  on  documents,  some  of 
which  had  not  before  been  used,  of  the  inception  and  early  his 
tory  of  the  Virginia  colony.  He  prints  from  the  Simancas  MSS. 
the  correspondence  of  Philip  II.  and  his  successor  with  the  Span 
ish  ambassadors  in  England,  as  far  as  it  has  to  do  with  the  Vir 
ginia  Company  and  its  colony. 

John  Smith's  "  A  True  Relation  of  Virginia"  covers  the  inter 
val  from  April  26,  1607,  to  June  2,  1608.  In  "  Purchas  his  Pil 
grim  es  "  (1685-90),  vol.  iv.,  is  an  account,  by  George  Percy,  of 
the  voyage  of  the  first  emigrants  to  Virginia  until  their  land 
ing  at  Jamestown.  The  "  Relatyon  of  the  Discovery  of  James 
River,"  by  Captain  Newport,  with  the  brief  supplemental  descrip 
tions  of  the  country  and  the  natives,  is  printed  in  the  collections 
of  the  "American  Antiquarian  Society,"  vol.  iv.  (1860).  In  the 
same  volume  are  Edward  Maria  Wingfield's  "  A  Discourse  of  Vir 
ginia,"  which  covers  the  interval  from  June  22,  1607?  to  May  21, 
1608.  In  1624,  John  Smith  published  his  "  General!  Historic," 
which  was  a  compilation  including  in  it  his  prior  publications  on 
America,  except  the  "True  Relation."  "Good  Newes  from 
Virginia,"  by  Whitaker,  the  clergyman,  was  issued  in  1613.  Ha- 
mor,  who  had  been  Secretary  of  the  Virginia  colony,  in  his 
"True  Discourse  of  the  Present  State  of  Virginia,"  carries  the 
narrative  down  to  June  18,  1614.  The  "  Proceedings  of  the  First 


334  APPENDIX 

Assembly  in  Virginia"  wore  published  (in  1  vol.)  in  1874,  under 
the  title  "  The  Colonial  Records  of  Virginia."  Heiiing's  "Stat 
utes  at  Large,"  etc.  (13  vols.),  is  a  comprehensive  collection  of  the 
statutes  of  Virginia.  They  exhibit  incidentally  the  state  of  so 
ciety. 

A  contemporary  account  of  "Bacon's  Rebellion,"  by  "  T.  M." 
is  printed  in  Force's  Tracts,  vol.  i.,  No.  8.  A  valuable  account 
in  MS.,  from  the  time  of  Bacon's  rebellion,  which  was  found  in 
the  Burwell  Papers,  is  given  in  the  "  Collections  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Historical  Society,"  vol.  xi. 

For  other  documentary  materials  respecting  Virginia,  the  reader 
is  again  referred  to  Winsor,  vol.  iii.,  p.  153  seq. 

The  "  History  of  North  Carolina,"  by  Francis  L.  Hawks,  D.D. 
(1858),  rests  upon  original  researches.  Moore's  "History  of 
North  Carolina"  (2  vols.,  1880)  is  a  work  of  more  popular  inter 
est.  Carroll's  "Historical  Collections"  (2  vols.)  contain  early 
printed  writings  relating  to  South  Carolina.  In  the  first  volume 
is  Hewitt's  "  History  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Colonies  of 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia"  (first  published  in  1779).  Ramsey's 
"  History  "  (1670-1808)  appeared  in  1809.  Of  much  value  are  the 
two  publications  of  Mr.  Rivers,  "  Sketch  of  the  History  of  South 
Carolina  to  1719"  (1856),  and  "  A  Chapter  in  the  Early  History 
of  South  Carolina"  (1874).  Documents  in  the  English  archives 
have  been  used  by  Doyle  in  his  "  English  Colonies  in  America" 
(Virginia,  Maryland,  and  the  Carolinas).  For  a  discussion  of  the 
sources  of  the  history  of  the  Carolinas,  see  Winsor,  vol.  v.,  p. 
354  seq. 

Respecting  Georgia,  Hewitt's  work  is  less  full  than  upon  South 
Carolina.  Stevens's  "History  of  Georgia"  (down  to  1798)  was 
written  at  the  request  of  the  Georgia  Historical  Societ}'.  White's 
"Historical  Collections  of  Georgia"  brings  together  a  mass  of 
documentary  material.  The  latest  and  best  work  on  the  subject 
is  the  "  History  of  Georgia,"  by  C.  C.  Jones,  Jr.  The  collections 
of  the  Georgia  Historical  Society  are  important.  Among  the 
Lives  of  Oglethorpe  the  "  Memoir,"  by  Robert  Wright  (London, 
1867),  is  specially  to  be  commended.  Mr.  Henry  Bruce's  "  Life 
of  Oglethorpe,"  in  the  Series  of  Makers  of  America,  is  an  inter 
esting,  but  discursive  narrative,  in  which  are  brought  together  the 
details,  as  far  as  they  are  known,  of  Oglethorpe's  career. 

The  series  of  works  by  Francis  Parkman,  under  the  general 
title  of  "  France  and  England  in  North  America, "embrace  "  The 


APPENDIX  335 

Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World,"  "The  Jesuits  in  North 
America,"  "  Frontenac/'and  other  volumes.  They  are  the  result 
of  a  faithful  study  of  original  documents.  The  narratives  are 
drawn  up  with  great  ability  and  judgment.  The  extensive  work 
of  the  Jesuit  Father,  Charlevoix,  on  the  History  of  New  France 
(1744),  has  been  translated  in  six  volumes  by  Dr.  Shea  (1866-1872). 
For  a  full  bibliography  relating  to  the  whole  subject,  see  Winsor, 
vol.  iv. 

On  the  subject  of  the  Physical  Geography  of  America,  Pro 
fessor  J.  D.  Whitney's  "United  States"  is  excellent.  To  be 
highly  commended,  also,  is  Professor  N.  S.  Shaler's  essay  on  the 
"Physiography  of  North  America  "  (in  Winsor,  vol.  iv.,  Introduc 
tion). 


INDEX 


ACABIANS,  expulsion  of  the  French, 
23$ 

Adams,  John,  on  New  England,  165 ; 
210 

Adolphus,  Gustavus,  183 

Albany,  founded,  180  ;  named,  189  ; 
Colonial  Congress  at,  237 

Albemarle  Colony,  79.  See  Caro 
lina. 

Albemarle,  Duke  of,  76 

Alexander,  Pokanoket  chief,  154 

Alexander  VI. ,  Pope,  his  bulls  giving 
"the  Indies"  to  Spain  (1493),  14 

Alexandria,  council  at,  338 

Algonkins,  spread  of  the  race,  7 ; 
attacke  i  by  the  Governor  of  New 
Netherlands  184 

Allen,  Samuel,  purchaser  of  Mason's 
claims,  224 ;  226 

Almanac,  Poor  Richard's,  271 

Amadas,  Philip,  26 

American  Philosophical  Society,  268 

Ames,  William,  theologian,  116 

Amsterdam,  New,  on  Manhattan, 
founded  by  the  Dutch,  180; 
Dutch  Church  organized  in,  181  ; 
described  as  it  was  in  1647,  184 ; 
in  the  hands  of  the  English,  189  ; 
in  the  hands  of  the  Dutch,  190 ;  re 
stored  to  the  English,  191.  See 
New  Netherland  and  New  York. 

Amyraut,  Moise,  theologian,  teaches 
Penn,  200 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  Governor  of 
New  England,  160,  161 ;  at  Hart 
ford,  162;  his  government  over 
thrown,  164;  Governor  of  New 
York  and  the  Jerseys,  191,  192 ; 
197;  219;  220;  Governor  of  Vir 
ginia,  278 

Anne,  Queen,  2'25 

Apalatchees,  the,  war  of  South 
Carolina  against,  296 

Archdale,  Joseph.  Governor  of 
South  Carolina,  296 


!  Argall,    Captain  Samuel,    Deputy- 
Governor  of  Virginia,  41,  42 
Argyle,  Earl  of,  198 
,  Aristotle,  13 
'  Arlington,  Lord,  52 
Arundel,  Lord,  29 
Ashley  River  Colony,  79,  80 
Ashurst,  Sir  Henry,  231 
Assemblies,  Colonial,  their  conflicts 
with   royal   governors   and   other 
officials,    209.       See    the    several 
Colonies. 

Atherton,  Captain  Humphrey,  145 
,  Avalon,  Lord  Baltimore's  first  col 
ony,  63 
Averroes,  13 
Aviles,  Mekiidez  de,  21 
Ay  lion,  Vasquez  de,  1? 
I 

i  BACON.  FRANCIS,  39 
Bacon,  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  his  rebellion, 
53  seq.  ;    the  "  Burwell  Papers" 
concerning,  318 
Balboa,  Vasco  Nunez  de,  discoverer 

of  the  Pacific,  17 
Baltimore,  the  town,  2Y6 
Baltimore,  Lord.     See  Calvert. 
Baptists  in  Rhode  Island,  143  ;  234 
Barclay,  Robert,  Governor  of  New 

Jersey,  197 
Barlow,  Arthur,  26 
Barneveldt,  Jan  Van  Olden,  179 
Barringron,      Governor     of     North 

Carolina,  294 
Barrowe,        Henry,       Independent 

preacher,  89 
Basse,  Jeremiah,  Gtvernor  in  New 

Jersey,  255 

!  Baxter,  Richard,  163,  320 
j  Bayard,  Nicholas,  24i^ 
I  Belcher,     Jonathan,    Governor     of 

Massachusetts,  234,  258,  259 
j  Bellomont,   Earl    of,    Governor    of 
New  York  and  of  Xassacbusetta, 
i      223,  221,  244,  246 


338 


INDEX 


Bennet,  Richard,  49,  71 

Berkeley,  Bishop  George,  210,  236 

Berkeley,  Lord,  190,  194   196 

Berkeley,  Sir  William,  Governor  of 
Virginia,  48  seq.;  describes  Vir 
ginia,  51 ;  55 ;  organizes  a  govern 
ment  for  Albemarle,  77 

Bermuda,  41 

Berry,  John,  Deputy-Governor  in 
New  Jersey,  196 

Beverley,  Robert,  314 

Biloxi,  213 

Blackstone,  Sir  William,  220 

Blackwell,  Capt.  John,  206 

Blair,  Rev.  James,  Bishop's  Com 
missary  in  Virginia,  obtains  a 
charter  for  William  and  Mary 
College,  278  ;  his  interview  with 
Seymour,  279 ;  his  differences  with 
Spotswood,  280 

Blake,  Joseph,  Governor  of  South 
Carolina,  296 

Block,  Adrian,  his  voyage  of  ex 
ploration,  179 

Boston,  founded,  112 

Boswell,  James,  on  Oglethorpe,  303 

Boylston,  Dr.  Zabdiel,  221 

Braddock,  General  Edward,  Wash 
ington's  relations  to  him,  238,  239 ; 
his  defeat  and  death,  290 

Bradford,  Andrew,  270 

Bradford,  William,  his  early  life, 
90;  94;  Governor  of  Plymouth 
Colony,  97  ;  149  ;  181  ;  his  "  His 
tory,"  31 5 

Bradstreet,  Simon,  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  151 

Bradstreet,  Anne,  318 

Brainerd,  David,  258 

Branford,  settled,  145 

Bray,  Rev.  Thomas,  Bishop's  Com 
missary  in  Maryland,  274 

Breda,  Peace  of,  190 

Brewster,  William,  at  Scrooby,  90 ; 
his  death,  99  ;  his  library,  99,  149 

Brooke,  Lord,  131 

Broughton,  Lieutenant-Governor  in 
South  Carolina,  301 

Browne,  John,  105 

Browne,  Robert,  Independent 
preacher,  89 

Browne,  Samuel,  105 

Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  210 

Bull,  William,  Lieutenant-Govern  or 
in  South  Carolina,  301,  306 

Burdet,  George,  preacher  at  Dover, 
124 


i  Burghley,  Lord,  89 
!  Burnet,  William,  Governor  of  New 
York,  of  Massachusetts,  233,  248, 

I  Bur  well  Papers,  314 
By  Hinge,  Edward,  198 
Byrd,  William,  314 

CABOT,  JOHN  and  SEBASTIAN,  their 
voyages,  15,  16 

Calamy,  Edmund,  120 

Calvert,  Cecilius,  second  Lord  Balti 
more,  63,  seq.,  205.  See  Mary 
land. 

Calvert,  Charles,  third  Lord  Balti 
more,  73,  272,  273,  275.  See  Mary 
land. 

|  Calvert,  Charles,   fifth  Lord  Balti 
more,  275 

Calvert,  Frederick,  sixth  Lord 
Baltimore,  275 

Calvert,  George,  first  Lord  Balti 
more,  62  seq.  See  Maryland. 

Calvert,  Leonard,  Governor  of 
Maryland,  66,  68  seq. 

Calvert,  Philip,  72 

Cambridge,  Harvard  College  estab 
lished  there,  141  ;  the  synod  of, 
141 

Campbell,  Lord  Neill,  198 
j  Canada,  attempts  on,  217,  226.     See 

New  France. 
i  Canonchet,  Sachem  of  the   Narra- 

gan  setts,  155 
!  Carleton,  Sir  Dudley,  180 

Carolinas,  The,  7(5  seq.  ;  Grant  by 
Charles  II.,  76;  the  Albemarle 
and  Clarendon  settlements,  77; 
the  ''Constitutions,"  77;  civil 
disturbances  in  North  Carolina, 
79;  South  Carolina  settled,  80; 
Huguenots  in  South  Carolina,  80  ; 
Social  Condition  in  North  Caro 
lina,  292;  "Constitutions"  given 
up  in  North  Carolina,  293  ;  Indian 
War,  293;  North  Carolina  a 
royal  province,  294 ;  Scotch  and 
Irish  immigrants,  2£5 ;  Two 
parties  in  South  Carolina,  295; 
Arehdale,  Governor,  296;  War 
against  the  Apalatchees,  297 ; 
War  against  the  Yemassees,  297  ; 
End  of  Proprietary  rule,  299; 
Revolt  of  Slaves,  300  ;  Trade  and 
immigration,  301  ;  paper  money, 
301  ;  Society  in  South  Carolina, 
301. 


INDEX 


339 


Carr.  Robert,  189 

Carteret,  Sir  George,  New  Jersey 
granted  to  him,  190  ;  contest  with 
Andros,  191;  grants  "Conces 
sions,"  194;  196,  197 

Carteret,  James,  Governor  of  New 
Jersey,  196 

Cavteret,  Philip,  Governor  of  New 
Jersey,  195,  196,  197 

Cartier,  Jacques,  discovers  the  St. 
Lawrence,  20 

Cartwright,  George,  189 

Carver,  John,  Governor  of  the  Ply 
mouth  Colony,  94 

Castine,  323 

Causton,  Thomas,  308,  309 

Cecil,  Robert,  Earl  of  Salisbury,  39 

Champlain,  Samuel  de,  Governor  of 
New  France,  23 

Charles  I.,  King  of  England,  48, 
108,  121,  139,  150,  181,  200 

Charles  II.,  King  of  England,  49, 
52,  149,  151,  152,  157,  187,  196, 
199,  201,  205,  207 

Charles  V.,  Emperor,  23 

Charleston,  S.  C.,  the  settlement 
there,  80 ;  a  seat  of  wealth  and 
fashion,  302 

Charlestown  (Mass.),  the  settlement 
there.  111,  112 

Charter  Oak,  legend  respecting  it, 
162 

Charters,  of  Virginia,  32,  39,  42,  44, 
45 ;  of  Maryland,  64,  74 ;  of  the 
Carolinas,  76,  290,  294;  of  Ply 
mouth,  95  ;  of  Massachusetts,  102, 
158,  219,  230;  of  Rhode  Island, 
136,  145,  151  ;  of  Connecticut, 
150  ;  of  New  Hampshire,  100,  158, 
230 ;  of  New  Jersey,  190,  196  ;  of 
Delaware,  201 ;  attack  on  the  New 
England  charters  by  the  English 
ministry,  157 

Chatham,  Lord,  210 

Chauncey,  Dr.  Charles,  233 

Cherokees,  the,  300 

Chester,  named  by  Penn,  202 

Chicheley,  Sir  Henry,  Governor  of 
Virginia,  56 

Christiaensen,  Hendrick,  178 

Christiana,  Fort,  built  by  the 
Swedes  in  Delaware,  183 

Church,  Colonel  Beniamin,  in  the 
contest  against  Philip,  155,  156 ; 
his  history  of  the  war,  315 

Church  of  England,  in  England,  85, 
100 ;  in  Virginia,  34,  50,  60,  279, 


280 ;  in  relation  to  Massachusetts, 
121,  161  ;  in  New  York,  190,  245, 
247;  in  Maryland,  68,  273;  in 
South  Carolina,  81,  297;  in  New 
Jersey,  256 

Cibola,  search  for,  18 
:  Clarendon   Colony,   77.     See  Caro 
linas. 

!  Clarendon,  Earl  of,  76,  188,  190 
,  Clarke,  John,  124,  143,  144,  151 
j  Clayborne,  William,  48 ;  his  contest 

with  Maryland,  66  seq. 
I  Clinton,  Admiral  George,  Governor 
of  New  York,  250,  251 

Coddington,  William,  124,  143,  144 

Coligni,  Caspar  de,  21 

Colleges,  Harvard,  169;  William 
and  Mary,  278 ;  Yale,  227  ;  Prince 
ton,  258 

.  Colleton,  James,  Governor  of  South 
Carolina,  81 

Colonial   union,    reasons    for,    214  ; 

conventions  for,  214 
i  Colonization,    incentives   to,    under 
James  I.,  31  seq. 

Columbus,  13,  15 

Colve,  Anthony,  Governor-General 
in  New  York,  191 

Conant,  Ryer,  100,  102 

Congregational  Church,  the  first  in 
Massachusetts,  104 

Congregationalism  in  Virginia,  48 ; 
in  New  England,  113 

Congregationalists,  expelled  from 
Virginia,  received  in  Maryland,  69 

Congress  at  Albany,  237  et  passim. 

Connecticut,  early  settlers,  126  ; 
Hooker  and  colonists  with  him, 
127 ;  government  established,  128  ; 
New  Haven  founded,  129  ;  its 
government,  129  ;  fiction  of  Blue 
Laws,  130  ;  Say  brook  joined  to 
Connecticut,  131  ;  the  Pequot 
War,  132  ;  complaint  against 
Massachusetts,  142  ;  death  of 
Hooker  and  Haynes,  149  ;  char 
ter  from  Charles  II.,  150;  New 
Haven  annexed  to  Connecticut, 
150;  hiding  of  the  charter,  162; 
observance  of  Sunday,  172 ; 
sumptuary  laws,  173;  founding 
of  Yale  College,  227;  the  Say- 
brook  platform,  228;  "Separa 
tists,''  2o2  ;  extension  of  religious 
freedom,  235  ;  part  in  the  siege  of 
Louisburg,  240 

Coode,  John,  74,  272,  274 


340 


INDEX 


Cooke,  Elisha,  218,  226 

Cooke,  Elisha,  the  younger,  229, 
230 

Cooper,  Lord  Ashley,  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury,  76 

Copley,  Sir  Lionel,  Governor  of 
Maryland,  74,  273 

Copping,  John,  an  independent 
preacher,  89 

Cornbury,  Lord,  Governor  of  New 
York  and  New  Jersey,  246,  256, 
264 

Coronado,  F.  V.  de,  18 

Cortereal,  Gaspar,  16 

Cortes,  Hernando,  17 

Cosby,  William,  Governor  of  New 
York,  of  New  Jersey,  248,  257 

Cotton,  John,  116  seq..  136,  148,  149, 
1(56,  316 

Courcelles,  Daniel  de  Remi,  212 

Covenant,  the  Half-way,  148 

Coxe,  Daniel,  257 

Cranfield,  Edward,  Governor  of  New 
Hampshire,  158 

Cranston,  Samuel,  Governor  of 
Rhode  Island,  224,  235 

Craven,  Charles.  297 

Craven,  Lord  William,  Governor  of 
South  Carolina,  297 

Creeks,  the,  297 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  Lord  Protector, 
71  ;  one  of  the  commission  for 
managing  the  colonies,  135 ;  pro 
poses  to  the  Massachusetts  peo 
ple  to  emigrate,  142  ;  favors  the 
independents,  143  ;  sends  an  ex 
pedition  against  New  Netherland, 
188 

Cromwell,  Richard,  49,  149,  199 

Culpepper,  John,  79 

Cu] pepper,  Lord,  Virginia  given  to, 
52  ;  Governor  of  Virginia,  56,  277 

Cumberland,  Fort,  288 

Gumming,  Sir  Alexander,  300 

DAO  WORTHY,  CAPTAIN,  290 

Dale,  Sir  Thomas,  Governor  of  Vir 
ginia,  his  system  of  martial  law, 
40 

Daniel,  Robert,  Deputy  Governor 
of  North  Carolina,  293 

Dnrien,  307 

Davenant,  Sir  William,  appointed 
by  Charles  II.  Governor  of  Mary 
land,  70 

Davenport,  James,  232 

Davenport,  John,  protects  the  regi 


cides,  129,  130;  his  part  in  the 
founding  of  New  Haven,  150  ;  re 
moves  to  Boston,  151 

Davies,  Samuel,  282,  290 

D'Aulnay,  139 

De  Gourges,  Dominic,  21 

D'Iberville.  213 

De  Lancey,  James,  250,  251 

De  Monts.  22 

De  Soto,  Ferdinand,  ascends  the 
Mississippi,  19 

Deerfield,  massacre  at,  155,  225 

Delaware,  Dutch  settlers  in,  180, 182; 
185  ;  Swedish  settlers,  183  ;  granted 
by  the  Duke  of  York  to  Penn, 
201 ;  a  separate  assembly  in,  263 

Delaware,  Lord,  Governor  of  Vir 
ginia,  40 

Denny,  William,  Governor  of  Penn 
sylvania,  268 

Detroit,  fort  built  at,  by  the  French, 
213 

Dieskau,  Baron,  239,  251 

Dinwiddie,  Robert,  Governor  of 
Virginia,  284,  285,  2S8 

Dixwell,  John,  one  of  the  Judges  of 
Charles!.,  150 

Dobbs,  Arthur,  Governor  of  North 
Carolina,  295 

Dongan,  Thomas,  Governor  of  New 
York,  191,  192 

Dorchester  Company,  100,  102 

Dover,  N.  H.,  founded,  124 

Doyle,  J.  A.,  107 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  24.  f.7 

Drummond,  William,  55,  77 

Drysdale,  Hugh,  Governor  of  Vir 
ginia,  281 

Dudley,  Joseph,  Governor  of  Massa 
chusetts,  158,  159,  1(50,  161,225, 
226,  227 

Dudley,  Thomas,  Governor  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  1<:9,  122,  148.  160 

Dummer,  Jeremiah,  230,  231 

Dummer,  William,  228,  229,  234 

Dunbar,  David,  234 

Duquesnc,  Fort,  battle  near,  C87  ; 
taken  by  the  English,  289 

Dustm,  Hannah,  £23 

EAST  NEW  JEKSET,   division  line, 

196 ;  purchased  by  Penn  and 
others,  197 ;  Scotch  immigrants, 
198  ;  union  with  West  Jersey,  198. 
8ee  New  Jersey,  and  West  New 
Jersey. 
Eatou,  Theophilus,  103,  129,  130,  149 


INDEX 


341 


Eden,  Charlea,  Governor  of  North 
Carolina,  294 

Edenton,  294 

Edward  VI.,  King  of  England,  23, 
86 

Edward,  Fort,  251 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  the  "  Great 
Revival,"  331  ;  as  a  writer,  319 

Eliot,  John,  151;  befriends  the 
Christian  Indians,  156 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England,  24,  87 

Elizabethtown  claimants,  the,  258 

Endicott,  John,  Governor  of  Massa 
chusetts,  102  seq.,  146 

Esopus  Indians,  the,  187 

Eugene,  Prince,  304 

Evans,  John,  Governor  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  263,  264 

Exeter,  planted,  124;  attacked  by 
the  Indians,  217 

FAIRFAX,  LORD,  282,  286 

Fairfield,  founded,  145 

Fendall,  Josiah,  Governor  of  Mary 
land,  72 

Fenwick,  George,  131,  134 

Ferrar,  Nicholas,  44 

Fitch,  Thomas,  Governor  of  Con 
necticut,  240 

Fletcher,  Benjamin,  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania,  of  New  York,  227, 
245.  246,  262 

Florida,  discovery  of,  16;  French 
colonists  in,  21  ;  Spanish  settle 
ment  in,  22 

Fox,  George,  79,  146,  261 

Francis  I. ,  King  of  France,  20 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  210,  215,  221, 
23S,  263,  271,  289,  310,  319 

Frederica,  307 

Frobisher,  Martin,  24 

Frontenac,  Count  de,  Governor  of 
New  France,  217,  218 

Fuller,  Samuel,  105 

GAM  A,  VASCO  DA,  doubles  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  15 

Gardiner,  Lion,  131 

Gardiner,  S.  R,  106 

Gates,  Sir  Thomas,  Governor  of 
Virginia,  41,  42 

Geography,  Physical,  of  North 
America,  1  seq. 

Georgia,  303  seq.  ;  its  settlement, 
306 ;  increase  of  colonists,  307  ; 
condition  of  the  colony,  307 ;  ex 
pedition  against  St.  Augustine, 


309;  Spanish  attack  on,  309; 
Whitefield  in,  310;  surrender  of 
its  charter,  311 ;  new  government, 
311 ;  social  condition,  311.  See 
Oglethorpe. 

Gibbons,  Major  Edward,  69 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  25,  26 

Gilbert,  Captain  Raleigh,  83 

Gist,  Christopher,  284 

Glen,  James,  Governor  of  South 
Carolina,  301 

Glover,  William,  Governor  in  North 
Carolina,  293 

Gofle,  William,  one  of  the  Judges  of 
Charles  I.,  149 

Gomez,  Stephen,  17 

Gondomar,  46 

Gooch,  William,  Governor  of  Vir 
ginia,  281 

Gookin,  Charles,  Governor  of  Penn 
sylvania,  264,  265 

Gookin,  Daniel,  156 

Gordon,  Patrick,  Governor  of  Penn 
sylvania,  266 

Gorges,  Sir  Ferdinando,  29,  33,  82, 
123,  125,  135 

Gorton,  Samuel,  137,  138,  140,  143 

Gosnold,  Bartholomew,  28,  34,  35,  36 

Governments,  the  form  of  the  colo 
nial,  208  seq. 

Granville,  Lord,  297 

Great  Meadows,  288.  See  Wash 
ington,  George. 

Greenwood,  John,  independent 
preacher,  89 

Grenville,  Sir  Richard,  27 

Grotius,  Hugo,  179 

Guilford,  settlement  of,  130 

HAKLUYT,  RICHARD,  24 

Hale,  Sir  Matthew,  220 

Hamilton,     Andrew,    Governor    in 

New  Jersey,  198,  249,  255,  263 
I  Hamilton,  James,  Governor  of  Penn 
sylvania,  267 
Hamilton,  John,  257 
I  Harvard  College,  founded,  169 ;  and 

the  Mathers,  226 
i  Harvard,  John,  170 
Harvey,  Sir  John,  Governor  of  Vir 
ginia,  48 
Haverhill,  attacked  by  the  Indians, 

223 

Hawkins,  Sir  John,  21 ,  57 
Haynes,    John,    Governor   of  Mas 
sachusetts,   of  Connecticut,    116, 
I      128,  149 


342 


INDEX 


Heath,  Sir  Robert,  76 
Henrico,  college  founded  at,  41 
Henry  IV.,  King  of  France,  22 
Henry  V1L,  King  of  England,  23 
Henry  VIII.,  King  of  England,  33, 

85 
Henry,  Prince  of  Portugal,  promotes 

maritime  discovery,  13 
Heyes,  Pieter,  plants  a  Dutch  colony 

in  Delaware,  182 
Higginson,  Francis,  103 
Holy  man,  123 
Hooker,  Thomas,  116  seq.,  127,  132, 

149,  316 
Howard,    Lord,   of  Effingham,   56, 

Hubbard,  William,  316 

Hudson,  Henry,   discovers  Hudson 

River,  177 

Humphrey,  John,  109 
Hunt,  Rev.  Robert,  35 
Hunter,   Robert,  Governor  of  New 

York,  247,  257 
Hutchinson,  Ann,  117  seq.,  124,135, 

184 

Hutchinson,  William,  124 
Hutchinson,  Thomas,    Governor  of 

Massachusetts,  237 
Hyde,  Edward,  293 

INDEPENDENTS,  their  tenets,  88 ; 
persecuted,  89  ;  favored  by  Crom 
well,  143 

Indians,  the,  6 ;  classification  of, 
7  ;  their  traits  and  manners,  7,  8 ; 
occupations,  8 ;  tribal  arrange 
ments,  9  ;  religion,  10  ;  their  moral 
qualities,  10 ;  their  number,  11  ; 
massacre  by,  in  Virginia,  45 ; 
seized  by  slaves,  57 ;  in  New  Eng 
land,  95 ;  Christian  converts 
among,  156  ;  hated,  157.  See  the 
several  colonies. 

Ingle,  Captain  Richard,  68  seq. 

Ingoldsby,  Major  Richard,  243,  256 

Insurrection  in  New  York,  Leis- 
ler's,  241 

Inventions  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
12 

Iroquois,  the,  191,  192,  212 

Isabella,  Queen  of  Castile,  14 

JAMES  I.,  King  of  England,  30  seq., 

46,  101 
James  II.,    King  of  England,  159, 

162,  163,  164,  192,  199,  205,  207 
Jamestown,  planted,  35 ;  burned,  54 


Jeffreys,  Sir  Herbert,  Governor  of 

Virginia,  56 
Jenckes,  Joseph,  Governor  of  Rhode 

Island,  235 
Jenings,  Samuel,  Governor  of  West 

Jersey,  198,  256 
Jesuits,  their  missions  in  Canada, 

212 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  303 
Johnson,  Lady  Arbella,  112 
Johnson,  Isaac,  109 
Johnson,    Sir  Nathaniel,  Governor 

of  South  Carolina,  293,  296 
Johnson,  Robert,  Governor  of  South 

Carolina,  298,  300 
Johnson,  Sir  William,  239,  251 
Johnston,     Gabriel,     Governor    of 

North  Carolina,  294 
Joliet,     Louis,    Jesuit    Missionary, 

212 

Jones,  Hugh,  283 
Joseph,  William,  272 
Jumonville,  288 

KEITH,  GEORGE,  261 

Keith,    Sir  William,   Governor    of 

Pennsylvania,  266 
Keppel,  Admiral,  238 
Kidd,  Captain  William,  223 
Kieft,  William,   Governor  of  New 

Netherland,  134,  183,  184 
Knowles,  Sir  Charles,  237 

LA  SALLE,  his  explorations,  213 

La  Tour,  139 

Lake  Champlain,  battle  near,  239 

Lane,  Ralph,  Governor  of  Raleigh's 
Roanoke  Colony,  27 

Las  Casas,  56 

Laud,  William,  108,  116,  121,  123, 
125,  129 

Laudonniere,  21 

Law,  Jonathan,  Governor  of  Con 
necticut,  240 

Lawrie,  Gawen,  Governor  of  East 
Jersey,  197 

Legists,  colonial,  320 

Leisler,  Jacob,  leader  in  a  revolu 
tion  in  New  York,  193,  241  ;  242, 
243,  244 

Leon,  Ponce  de,  discovers  Florida, 
16 

Literature  in  the  colonies,  313  seq. 

Lloyd,  David,  261,  263,  264 

Lloyd,  Thomas,  205 

Locke,  John,  frames  the  "Consti 
tution  of  Carolina,"  77 


INDEX  343 

Loe,  Thomas,  199  f      Episcopalian  intolerance  in,  274  , 

Lot 


3gan,  James,  Secretary  of  Penn-  proprietary  government  restored, 

sylvania,  263,  2»>4,  265,  266,  270  275  ;  population,  276 

andon    Company,    chartered,    32;  Mason,  John,  100,  123,  157 

new  charter,  39  ;  annulling  of  the  Mason,  Captain  John,  183 

charter,    45 ;  grants   a  patent   to  Massachusetts,    the    first    settlers, 

the  Pilgrims,  91  102  ;  the  great  emigration  to,  110; 

Londonderry,   New  Hampshire,  its  sufferings  of  the  Colony,  111  ;  the 


settlement,  230 
Lothrop,  Captain,  155 
Loudoun,  Earl  of,  252 
Louis  XIV.  ,  King  of  France,  190, 

209,  212 
Louisburg,  capture  of,  236  ;  restored 


General  Court,  112  ;  its  theocratic 
system,  113 ;  Congregationalism 
in,  113  ;  dissentients  in  religion, 
114  seq.;  the  charter  threatened, 
122 ;  the  Pequot  War,  132 ;  her 
conduct  in  the  Confederacy,  136  ; 


to  the  French,  237  address  to  Parliament  by,  141  ; 

Louisiana,  French  settlements  in,  !  love  of  independence,  141 ;  Maine 

213  annexed  to,  146;  the  Quakers  in, 

Lovelace,  Lord,  Governor  of  New  I  146 ;  "  intolerance,"  147  ;  Royal 


York,  190,  2i7,  256 
Ludwell,  Philip,  80,  293,  295 


Lyford,  John,  97,  100 
Lyman,  General  Phineas,  251 


Commission,    152 ;    annulment  of 
charter,  158  ;  middle  party  in,  159  ; 


216;  issue  of  paper  money,  218; 
fails  to  regain  its  charter,  218; 
new  charter,  219  ;  the  witchcraft 

MACAULAY,  LORD,  his  mistake  re-  '      delusion,   22) ;    New  Hampshire 
garding  Penn,  205  separated  from,  224  ;  Indian  atroc- 

Mackay,  Colonel,  298  ities  in,   225;    expedition  against 

Maine,    the    Popham    colony,    83  ;  ''      Canada,  226  ;  explanatory  charter, 
Gorges'  settlements  in,  125;   not        230;  the  "  Great  Revival,"  231 
in  the  New  England  Confederacy,    Massachusetts  Company,  chartered, 
135  ;    annexed   to   Massachusetts,  !      102  ;  its  transfer  to  New  England, 
claim   of    Gorges    purchased    by  \      109.     tiee  Massachusetts 
Massachusetts,  146,  158  ;  225  ;  Massasoit,  Chief  of  the  Pokanokets, 

Makemie,  Francis,  247,  282  154 

Maltravers,  Lord,  76  Mather,  Cotton,  221,  225,  226,  315 

Manhattan,  180 ;  purchase  of,  181        Mather,  Increase,  163,  218,  220,  225, 

Markham,     William,    Governor    of        226, 316 
Delaware,  of  Pennsylvania,  202,    Maverick,  Samuel,  152 
261,  262  j  May,    Cornelius    Jacobsen,    Dutch 

Marquette,  Father  James,  212  Director  in  New  York,  180 

Mary,  Queen  of  England,  86  Mayas,  the,  6 

Maryland,  62  scq.  ;  grant  to  Balti-    Mayflower,  her  voyage,  92  ;  compact 
more,    63  ;   charter,  64  ;  religious        made  in  her  cabin,  93 
toleration,  64 ;  Clayborne's  settle-    Mennonites,  the,  204 
ment,  66  ;  the  first  colonists,  66  ;    Mexicans,  the,  6 
the  legislature,  67  ;  revolution  and    Miantonomo,  Chief  of  the  Narragan- 
counter-revolution,  08;   non-con-        setts,  137.  138 
formists   in,  69 ;  act  of  religious    Michaelius,  181 

freedom  passed,  70;  overthrow  of    Middle  States,  their  characteristics, 
Baltimore's    government  by   the        252 

Commissioners,   70 ;   Pur  tan   as-    Middleton,     Arthur,     Governor    of 
cendency   in,    71 ;    Baltimore  re-        South  Carolina,  299 
stored  to  power,  71  ;  slavery  in,    Milborne,  son-in-law  of  Leisler,  242 
72;  overthrow  of  proprietary  rule    Milford,  Conn.,  settled,  130 
in,  74  ;  society  in,  74  ;  the  revolu-    Miller,  Rev.  John,  245 
tion  at  the  accession   of  William    Miller,  Thomas,  79 
and  Mary,  272;  overthrow  of  the    Minuit,   Peter,    Dutch   Director  in 
proprietary      government,     273  ;  i      New  York,  181,  182 


344 


INDEX 


Mohawks,  the,  132,  133,  191 
Mohegans,  the,  132,  133,  137,  138 
Monk,  General  George,  76 
Montgomerie,    John,     Governor  of 

New  York  and  New  Jersey,  248, 

257 
Moore,  Colonel  James,  Governor  of 

South  Carolina,  293,  296,  299 
More,  Nicholas,  203,  205 
Morris,    Robert    H.,    Governor   of 

Pennsylvania,  267 
Morris,    Lewis,    Governor    of   New 

Jersey,  256,  257 
Morton,  Thomas,  96,  121 
Mound  Builders,  the,  6 

NANFAN,    Lieutenant-Governor    of 
New  York,  246 

Nantes,  edict  of,  22 

Narragansetts,  the,   132,    133,  137, 
138,  145,  155 

Narvaez,  Pamfilo  de,  17 

Nassau,  Fort,  180 

Navigation  acts,  English,  history  of, 
50  ;  made  stricter  under   Charles 
II.,  149  ;  source  of  chronic  com-  I 
plaint,    209  ;     enforced    in    New 
York,  191  ;  in  Massachusetts,  224  ;  I 
in  Virginia,  278 

Negro  Plot,  in  New  York,  249 

New  England,  the  Popham  Colony,  I 
83  ;  John  Smith  in,  83 ;  the  Coun-  I 
cil  of,  84 ;  motives  of  the  perma-  \ 
nent    settlement,   85  seq.  ;   towns  ! 
in,  99 ;  Council  of,  surrenders  its  , 
charter,    123  ;     Confederacy    of, 
133  ;  how  treated  under  the  Com 
monwealth,  136;  acts  of  the  Con 
federacy,  139  ;  death   of  eminent 
founders,  149  ;  visit  of  the  Royal 
Commission,  152 ;  attack  on  the 
New  England  Charter  by  Charles  : 
II.,   157;    royal    government   in,  | 
159;  the  revolution  in  1689,  164  ; 
society  in,  165 ;    of  pure  English 
stock,  165  ;  government  and  laws,  ! 
165  ;  town  organization,  167  ;  the  j 
ministry,  168;  education  in,  169;  I 
social  distinctions,  170;  religion, 
171 ;  sumptuary  laws  in,  113  ;  em-  j 
ployments,  175  ;   Board  of  Trade 
and  Plantations,  216;  attacks  of 
French  and  Indians,  223;  expedi-  ; 
tions  against  Canada,  226  ;  "  the  i 
Great  Revival,"  231 ;  writers  in,  I 
314   seq.  ;  absorption   in   religion  ! 
and  theology,  318.     See  the   sev-  | 


eral   New    England    Colonies,  et 
passim. 

New  France,  rise  of,  22  seq. 

New  Hampshire,  Mason's  grant, 
100 ;  Exeter  and  Dover  founded, 
124;  a  distinct  royal  province, 
158  ;  again  united  to  Massachu 
setts,  158;  again  separated,  224; 
Londonderry  founded,  230  ;  Mason 
claims  settled,  239 

New  Haven,  its  settlement,  129; 
government,  129  ;  >  population, 
130;  annexed  to  Connecticut, 
150 

New  Jersey,  grant  to  Carteret  and 
Berkeley,  190,  194;  its  constitu 
tion,  194  ;  settlement  at  Elizabeth, 
195;  divided,  196;  annexed  to 
New  York.  198;  a  royal  province, 
255  ;  separated  from  New  York, 
257 ;  the  Elizabethtown  claim 
ants,  258 ;  the  Revival,  258  ;  eo- 
cial  life,  259.  See  East  New 
Jersey,  West  New  Jersey 

New  Netherland,  Hudson's  discov 
ery,  177;  the  "  New  Netherland 
Company,"  179 ;  settlement  on 
Manhattan,  180;  the  patroons, 
181,  seq.  ;  Van  T  waller's  contro 
versy  with  Connecticut  settlers, 
183 ;  trouble  with  the  Indians, 
184  ;  under  Stuyvesant,  184;  treaty 
with  Connecticut,  185  ;  New  Swe 
den  conquered,  185;  relations  to 
Connecticut,  187;  conquered  by 
the  English,  189;  surrendered  to 
the  Dutch,  190 ;  restored  to  the 
English,  191.  6WNew  York. 

New  Sweden,  settled,  183;  con 
quered  by  the  Dutch,  185 

New  York,  surrender  of  New 
Netherland  to  the  English,  189; 
recaptured  by  the  Dutch,  1 90  ;  re 
gained  by  the  English,  191 ;  de 
scribed  by  Andros,  191;  "char 
ter  of  liberties,"  191  ;  a  royal 
province,  192  ;  Leisler's  insurrec 
tion,  193,  241,  seq.  ;  Assembly's 
Bill  of  Rights,  244;  struggle  for 
self-government,  245  ;  Fletcher 
establishes  Episcopacy,  245,  246; 
Cornbury's  intolerance,  247  ;  Ger 
man  immigrants,  248  ;  contest  for 
the  liberty  of  the  press,  249 ;  the 
Albany  Congress,  251  ;  paper 
money,  252;  society,  252;  the 
clergy,  253 ;  education,  253 ;  so- 


INDEX 


345 


cial  classes,  253,  254.  See  New 
Netherland. 

Newcastle,  Duke  of,  236 

Newport,  124,  136 

Newport,  Captain  Christopher,  34, 
35 

Nicholas  V.,  Pope,  14 

Nicholson,  Francis,  Lieutenant- 
Govarnor  in  Virginia,  Governor 
of  Maryland,  Deputy-Governor  in 
New  York,  Governor  of  Carolina, 
193,  241,  242,  247,  274,  277,  278, 
299,  300 

Nicolls,  Colonel,  152,  189,  190, 195 

North  Carolina.     See  Carolina. 

Norton,  Rev.  John,  151 

Nott,  Edward,  Deputy-Governor  in 
Virginia,  280 

OAKES,  THOMAS,  218 

Oglethorpe,  James  Edward,  303  seq. 

Oglethorpe,  Sir  Theophilus,  303 

Ohio  Company,  the,  284 

Oldham,  John,  100,  127 

Orkney,  Earl  of,  Governor  of  Vir 
ginia,  279 

Os borne,  Sir  Danvers,  Governor  of 
New  York,  251 

Oxenstiern,  Swedish  Chancellor,  183 

PACIFIC,  its  discovery,  17 

Palfrey,  John  G.,  106 

Parris,  Samuel,  221 

Pastorius,  F.  D.,  204 

Patroons,  in  New  York,  181  seq. 

Penn,  William,  73,  196,  197,  199  seq., 
260,  261,  262,  264,  265,  266.  See 
Pennsylvania 

Penn,  Admiral  Sir  William,  190, 
200,  205 

Pennsylvania,  grant  to  Penn  200 ; 
Delaware  obtained  from  the  Duke 
of  York,  201 ;  Penn's  charter,  201 ; 
his  address  to  the  colonists,  202  ; 
arrival  of  Penn,  202  ;  his  constitu 
tion,  202,  203  ;  emigration  to,  204  ; 
religion  in,  205 ;  domestic  strife, 
205 ;  description  of,  206 ;  party 
feeling  in,  261 ;  the  proprietary 
displaced,  2o2 ;  restored  to  Penn, 
262 ;  he  befriends  the  Indians, 
262;  new  Charter  of  Privileges, 
263  ;  the  two  parties  in,  263  ;  dis 
sensions,  264  seq.;  opposition  to 
the  proprietaries,  267  seq. ;  society, 
269  ;  population,  269 ;  physicians, 


269;  tradesmen,  209;  intellectual 
life,  270 

Pennsylvania,  University  of,  268 

Penry,  John,  Independent  preacher, 
89 

Pepperell,  Sir  William,  236,  237 

Pequot  War,  the,  132  seq. 

Pequots,  the,  132,  133,  153 

Peruvians,  the,  5 

Philadelphia,  founded,  202;  legal  and 
medical  science  in,  209 ;  popula 
tion  and  social  life  in,  in  1749,  270 

Philip  II.,  King  of  Spain,  21,  177 

Philip  III. ,  King  of  Spain,  45 

Philip,  King,  war  of,  153  seq.;  154, 
155,  156 

Phips,  Sir  William,  217,  218,  220, 
221,  222,  223,  224 

Pilgrims,  at  Scrooby,  89 ;  in  Hol 
land,  90 ;  preparations  to  emigrate, 
91  ;  voyage  to  New  England,  (J2  ; 
first  winter  at  Plymouth,  95 ;  pur 
chase  of  land,  97.  See  Plymouth 
Colony. 

Pineda,  his  voyage  of  discovery,  17 

Pinzon,  14 

Plato,  13 

Plymouth.  Mass.,  decline  of  the 
town,  145 

Plymouth  Colony,  arrival  of  the  Pil 
grims,  92 ;  compact  framed,  93  ; 
agreement  with  the  merchants, 
94  ;  the  patent,  95  ;  form  of  gov 
ernment,  96 ;  purchase  of  the  stock 
and  land,  97 ;  growth  and  charac 
ter,  98;  number  of  "Praying  In 
dians,"  93  ;  spirit  of  the  colony, 
140;  King  Philip's  War,  153  ;  an 
nexed  to  Massachusetts,  219.  See 
Pilgrims. 

Pocahontas,  37 

Pokanokets,  the,  154 
;  Pollock,  Colonel,  Acting  Governor 
of  North  Carolina,  293 

Popham  Colony,  83 
•  Popham,  George,  83 

Popham,  Lord  Chief-Justice,  29,  33 

Port  Royal,  Captured  by  Phips,  217 

Portsmouth,  R.  I.,  settled,  124;  in 
corporated  in  Providence  Planta 
tions,  136 

I  Poutrincourt,  22 

'  Powhatan,  36,  37 

Presbyterians  in  England,  88 ;  in 
New  Jersey,  218 ;  in  New  York, 
247 ;  in  Pennsylvania,  270 ;  in 
Virginia,  28^5 


346 


INDEX 


Prince,  Thomas,  316 

Princeton  College,  258 

Pring,  Martin,  his  explorations,  £9 

Printz,  Swedish  Governor,  183 

Providence,  K.  I.,  founded,  115 

Providence  Plantations,  charter  of, 

136 
Puritanism,    rise    and    progress    in 

England,  87  seq. 
Putnam,  Israel,  239 
Pym,  135 

QUAKERS,  in  Virginia,  50  ;  in  Mary 
land,  73  ;  in  North  Carolina,  79 ; 
in  Massachusetts,  146, 151 ;  234 ;  in 
New  York,  180 ;  in  New  Jersey, 
196,  257 ;  their  tenets  adopted  by 
Penn,  199  ;  in  Pennsylvania,  202  ; 
Anti-Quaker  Party  in  Pennsyl 
vania,  201 ,  267 

Quebec,  founded,  23 

RALEIGH,  SIR  WALTER,  25  ;  his  first 

colony,  27  ;  his  second  colony,  28 
Randolph,   Edward,   157,   159,  160, 

164,  224 

Randolph,  Peyton,  282,  285 
Rasles,  Sebastian,  214,  230  ;  destruc 
tion  of  his  settlement,  229 
Ratcliffe,  Philip,  121,  160,  219 
Ratcliffe,    John,  Governor    of  Vir 
ginia,  34,  36,  37 
Reading,  John,  258 
Recollets,  the,  in  Canada,  212 
Reformation,  the   English,  its  pro 
gress,  85 
Regicides,    the,    in    New    England, 

150 
Renaissance,   the  characteristics  of 

the,  12 

Revolution  of  1688,  its  effect  in  Eng 
land,  208  ;  in  the  colonies,  208  seq. 
Reynolds,  Captain  John,  311 
Rhett,  Colonel  William,  296 
Rhode  Island,  Roger  Williams 
founds  Providence,  123;  settle 
ment  of  Newport  and  Portsmouth, 
124 ;  not  a  member  of  the  Confed 
eracy,  135 ;  charter  granted  to 
Williams,  136  ;  contest  of  Codding- 
ton  and  Clarke,  143  ;  union  under 
Williams's  charter,  145;  new 
charter  obtained  by  Clarke,  151  ; 
Bellomont's  complaints  against, 
224 ;  laws  limiting  the  franchise, 
230;  part  in  the  first  war  with 
France,  240 


Ribaut,  Jean,  21 

Richards,  John,  158 

Rigby,  Alexander,  146 

Rittenhouse,  David,  271 

Roanoke,   the  first  colony,  27;  the 

second  colony,  28 
Roberval,  Lord  of,  20 
:  Robinson,  John,  90,  97,  179 
Roche,  Marquis  de  la,  22 
Rolfe,  John,  41,  57 
Rudyard,    Thomas,     Governor     of 

East  Jersey,  197 
Russell,  Rev.  John,  150 
Ryswick,  Peace  of,  213 

SAGAS,  the  Norse,  13 

St.  Louis,  212 

St.  Mary's,  Maryland,  planted,  67 

Salmon  Falls,  massacre  at,  217 

Saltonstall.    Gordon,     Governor   of 

Connecticut,  228 

Samoset,  a  Wampanoag  Indian,  95 
Sandys,  Sir  Edwin,  33,  44,  46 
Sandys,  George,  314 
Saratoga,  destruction  of,  250 
Sassacus,  a  Pequot  chief,  133 
Savannah,  planted,  306 
Say  and  Sele,  Lord,  131,  135 
Saybrook,  131  ;  synod  of,  2L8 
Sayle,  William,  Governor  in  South 

Carolina  80 

Schenectady,  massacre  at,  217 
Schuyler,  Peter,  242 
Scott,  John,  187 
Scrooby,  the  congregation  at,  90 
Sewall,    Samuel,    Chief  Justice  in 

Massachusetts,  120,  222 
Sharpe,  Horatio,  Governor  of  Mary 
land,  275 

Shippen,  Dr.  William,  269 
Shirley,  William,  23(5,  237,  239,  291 
Shute,   Samuel,   Governor   of   MaL- 

sachusctts,  228,  229,  230 
Skelton,  Samuel,  Governor  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  1C3 
!  Sloughter,  Col.  Henry,  Governor  of 

New  York,  243,  244,  245 
Smith,  Thomas,  Governor  of  South 

Carolina,  295 
Smith,  John,  35,  36,  38,  40,  83,  179, 

313 
i  Sothel,    Seth,     Governor    in   North 

Carolina,  79,  295 
|  South  Carolina.'     AVc  Carolina, 
j  Southampton,  Earl  of,  29,  47 
I  Spangenberg,  August  Gottlieb,  Mo- 
I      ravian  Bishop,  306 


INDEX 


347 


Spotswood,  Alexander,  Governor  of 
Virginia,  280,  293 

Standish,  Miles,  95,  131 

Stark,  John,  239 

Stephens,  Samuel,  Governor  in 
North  Carolina,  79 

Stiles,  Ezra,  President  of  Yale  Col 
lege,  233 

Stirling,  Lord,  188 

Stith,  a  Virginia  historian,  314 

Stone,  Rev.  Samuel,  11(5,  127,  133 

Stone,  William,  Governor  of  Mary 
land,  69  seq. 

Stoughton,  William,  221 

Stratford,  Conn.,  planted,  145 

Stay  vesant,  Peter,  Governor  of  New 
Amsterdam,  142,  184  seq. 

Swanzey,  massacre  at,  155 

Swedish  settlement  in  Delaware,  183 

TALCOTT,  JOSEPH,  Governor  of 
Connecticut,  235 

Tennent,  Gilbert,  258 

Tennent,  William,  258 

Thacker,  Elias,  an  Independent 
preacher,  89 

Thomas,  George,  Governor  of  Penn 
sylvania,  267 

Tillotson,  John,  Archbishop,  260 

Tobacco,  its  cultivation  in  Virginia, 
41 ;  made  legal  currency  there,  43 

Tomo-chi-chi,  306 

Toscanelli,  14 

Tribes  of  North  America,  their 
languages,  5 

Trott,  Nicholas,  296,  298 

Tuscaroras,  the,  212,  293 

Tynte,  Edward,  Governor  of  South 
Carolina,  297 

UNCAS,  Chief  of  the  Mohegans,  137, 

138,  145 
Usher,  John,  224,  226 

VACA,  CABEZA  DE,  18 

Van  Dam,  Rip,  248 

Van  Rensselaer,  182 

Van  Twiller,  Wouter,  Governor  of 

New  Amsterdam,  183 
Vane,  Sir  Henry,  117,  124,  135,  136, 

144 

Vassall,  William,  140,  143 
Vaughan,  William,  224 
Verhulst,  William,  Dutch  Director 

in  New  Amsterdam,  180 
Vernon,  Admiral  Edward,  234,  286, 


Verrazano,  John,  20,  28 

Vespuccius,  Americus,  15 

Virginia,  30  seq.;  the  first  charter, 
32  ;  the  superior  council,  33  ;  the 
colony,  34  seq. ;  dissension,  36; 
complaints  by  the  company,  c'8  ; 
new  charter,  39;  code  of  martial 
law,  40;  the  third  charter,  42; 
method  of  government  altered,  42; 
House  of  Burgesses  constituted, 
42  ;  slaves  introduced,  43  ;  growth 
of  the  colony,  44  ;  written  consti 
tution,  44  ;  Indian  massacre,  45  ; 
annulment  of  the  charter,  45 ; 
parties  in  the  colony,  47  ;  effect 
of  the  annulling  of  the  charter, 
48;  nonconformists  expelled,  49; 
submits  to  the  Commonwealth, 
49;  recognizes  Charles  IL,  49; 
its  condition  in  1671,  51  ;  grant 
to  Arlington  and  Culpepper,  52 ; 
Indian  troubles,  53  ;  Bacon's  re 
bellion,  53  ;  again  a  royal  prov 
ince,  56  ;  negro  slavery,  57  ;  social 
life,  58 ;  tobacco  culture,  58  ;  con 
dition  in  1681,  59  ;  aristocracy  in, 
60,  277  seq.;  revolution,  277  ;  new 
immigrants,  281  ;  the  churches, 
282 ;  slavery,  282  ;  the  rich  plant 
ers,  283 

j  WAR,  the  French  and  Indian,  211 
!  Ward,  Nathaniel,  148,  166 
;  Warren,  Admiral  Sir  Peter,  237 
i  Warwick,  Earl  of,  131,  135 

Washington,  George,  his  birth  and 
education,  286  ;  a  land  surveyor, 
286;  an  Adjutant-General,  287;  a 
messenger  to  the  French,  287  ;  at 
Great  Meadows,  288;  an  Aid  of 
Braddock,  290;  in  the  battle  at 
Monongahela,  290  ;  in  command 
at  Winchester,  290 

Washington,  Lawrence,  284,  286 

Wentworth,  Benning,  Governor  of 
New  Hampshire,  239 

Wentworth,  John,  230 

Wesley,  Charles,  307,  308 

Wesley,  John,  220,  307,  308 

West,  Joseph,  80 

West  India  Company,  in  Holland, 
179,  181 

West  New  Jersey,  division  line,  196 ; 
sold  to  Penn  and  others,  196; 
union  with  East  New  Jersey,  198. 
See  New  Jersey,  and  East  New 
Jersey. 


348 


IXDEX 


Weston,  Thomas,  96 
Weymouth,  George,  29 
Whalley,  Edward,  149 
Wheelwright,  Rev.  John,  118scg. 
Whitaker,  Rev.  Alexander,  41,  314 
White,  Rev.  John,  102 
Whiteiield,  George,  231,  310 
Wigglesworth,  Michael,  319 
William  and  Mary,  King  and  Queen 

of  England,  150,  164,  207,  210,  216, 

217 

William  and  Mary  College,  278 
Williams,  Col.  Ephraim,  239 
Williams,  Roger,  114  se.q.,  123,  124, 

132,  136,  137,  143,  144,  145,  316 
Willoughby,  Sir  Hugh,  23 
Wilson,    John,    First    Minister    of 

Boston,  111,  151 
Wingfield,   Edward  Maria,   35,  36, 

37 

Winslow,  Edward,  315 
Winslow,  John,  238 
Winthrop,  John,  69,    109,    scq.,  121, 

132,  135,  137, 138,  146,  169,  315 


Winthrop,  John,  the  younger,  131, 
145,  150,  187,  228 

Winthrop,  John,  nephew  of  the 
first  John  Winthrop,  235 

Witchcraft,  "  The  Salem,"  220 

Wolcott,  Roger,  Governor  of  Con 
necticut,  240 

Wollaston,  Captain,  96 

Wyatt,  Sir  Francis,  Governor  in 
Virginia,  44,  48 

YALE  COLLEGE,  founded,  227 

Yeamans,  John,  Governor  in  the 
"Clarendon"  Colony,  77 

Yeardley,  George,  Governor  in  Vir 
ginia,  42 

Yemassees,  The,  297,  300 

Yonge,  Francis,  298 

York,  Duke  of,  James,  152, 158, 187, 
196,  197,  201 

ZENGER,  JOHN  PETER,  249 
Zuniga,     Spanish    ambassador     in 
England,  45 


THE  AMERICAN 


Longitude  100 


OLONIES  IN  1755 


!  |  English  Territory 

I  I  French 

!  I  Spanish 

Unexplored  " 


from  90  Greenwich 


COO         700         800         900        1000 


THE  AMERICAN  HISTORY  SERIES. 


T^HIS  series,  in  a  field  in  which  so  much  important 
and  original  work  is  being  done  at  the  present 
time,  forms  a  connected  history  of  the  United  States, 
from  the  discovery  of  America  to  the  present  time. 
The  whole  period  is  divided  into  four  distinct  "Epochs," 
each  comparatively  rounded  and  complete  in  itself,  and 
each  treated  by  a  special  and  eminent  authority.  It  is 
eminently  history,  as  distinguished  from  the  chronicle  of 
annals,  and  explains  the  significance  as  well  as  recounts 
the  course  of  events.  Philosophic,  rather  than  purely 
narrative,  so  far  as  may  be  without  departure  from  its 
thoroughly  popular  and  literary  design,  and  dealing  with 
causes  and  inferences  as  fully  as  with  incidents,  it  still 
makes  especially  prominent  the  social  picture  of  each 
epoch,  and  occupies  itself  with  the  manners,  habits, 
beliefs,  aims,  and  conduct  of  the  great  public,  rather 
than  the  acts  of  individuals,  however  representative.  It 
is,  in  a  word,  a  literary  and  philosophical  history  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States. 

The  different  volumes  treat : — First,  the  epoch 
of  discovery  and  colonization  ;  second,  that  of  the 
French  and  Indian  War  and  the  Revolution — essen 
tially  forming  one  period  as  regards  both  the  political 
current  of  events,  and  many  of  the  actors  therein  ; 
third,  the  discussion  and  adoption  of  the  Federal 
Constitution  after  the  successful  issue  of  the  Revolu- 


THE  AMERICAN  HISTORY  SERIES. 

tion,  and  the  growth  in  national  consolidation  of  the 
different  and  at  first  discordant  States ;  and  fourth, 
the  sectional  conflict  over  the  institution  of  slavery, 
from  the  rise  of  the  slave-power  to  the  end  of  the 
reconstruction  period. 

The  initial  volume  entitled  "  The  Colonial  Era,"  by 
George  Park  Fisher,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Ec 
clesiastical  History  in  Yale  University,  has  been  re 
ceived  with  universal  favor.  "  The  French  War  and 
the  Revolution  "  is  written  by  William  M.  Sloane,  Ph.D., 
Professor  of  History  in  Princeton  University.  The  era 
of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  subsequent 
national  consolidation,  is  described  by  Gen.  Francis  A. 
Walker,  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology.  The  fourth  period,  on  account  both  of 
its  length  and  of  its  historic  importance,  will  comprise 
two  volumes,  the  first  tracing  the  confederatizing  of 
the  Constitution  under  the  influences  of  slavery,  and 
the  second,  its  nationalization  under  the  influences  of 
the  Civil  War  and  reconstruction.  The  author  of  these 
volumes  is  John  W.  Burgess,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor 
of  History,  Political  Science,  and  Constitutional  Law 
in  Columbia  College.  It  will  be  seen  that  for  each  of 
the  works  comprising  the  series  the  publishers  have 
been  fortunate  enough  to  secure  the  co-operation  of 
an  author  not  only  of  national  literary  reputation,  but 
of  special  authority  upon  the  individual  work  he  has 
undertaken.  The  five  volumes  will  be  published  in 
i2mo,  at  $1.25  each,  and  each  provided  with  maps 
and  plans. 


THE  AMERICAN  HISTORY  SERIES. 


PRESS   NOTICES 


Christian    Union. 
"  The  series  promises  to  be  one  of  great  value." 

New  York  Tribune. 

"  The  new  series  is  well  begun  and  the  reading  public  will  look 
for  the  appearance  of  succeeding  volumes  with  interest." 

Boston  Times. 

1 '  The  series  will  be  heartily  appreciated  by  people  who  have 
neither  the  means  nor  the  time  to  obtain  their  historical  information 
from  larger  works." 

Boston  Journal. 
"  It  promises  to  be  a  very  useful  series  of  monographs." 

New  England  Journal  of  Education. 

"  The  reputation  and  ability  of  the  authors  leave  no  room  for 
doubting  that  this  series  will  take  first  rank  as  an  authority  on  our 
national  history." 

Chicago  Journal. 

"  The  series  will  make  a  very  satisfactory  presentation  of  their 
subject." 

New  York  Press. 

"  The  plan  is  a  good  one,  and  the  series  of  volumes  cannot  fail 
to  prove  highly  useful." 

Boston  Beacon. 

"  There  is  a  demand  for  a  competent  survey  of  the  subject  on  a 
scale  not  too  great  for  popular  instruction,  and  such  a  work  is  now 
to  be  supplied  in  the  American  History  Series." 


THE  AMERICAN  HISTORY  SERIES. 

THE   COLONIAL   ERA 

By  Prof.  GEORGE  P.  FISHER 

i2mo,  $1.25 


PRESS   NOTICES 


Mr.  M.  W.  Hazletine  in  New  York  Sun. 

"  We  know  of  no  other  work  which,  in  the  compass  of  a  single 
volume,  offers  so  complete  and  satisfactory  a  conspectus  of  the 

subject." 

The  Critic. 

"  Prof.  Fisher's  work  shows  the  hand  of  a  master  still  in  its 
strength.  He  seems  to  have  a  positive  genius  for  clear,  compact, 
and  readable  condensation." 

The  Independent. 

"  A  book  of  great  merit,  brief  without  being  bare,  and  marked 
with  historic  accuracy  and  philosophic  grasp." 

Hartford  Courant. 

"  We  do  not  know  where  so  much  information  about  our  country 
is  stored  in  so  compact  and  readable  form." 

The  Congregationalist. 

"It  is  conspicuously  complete,  accurate,  and  clear.  If  the  suc 
ceeding  volumes  equal  this,  the  series  will  become  a  standard." 

Philadelphia  Telegraph. 

"  The  style  is  direct,  clear,  and  readable,  and  the  author  puts  into 
succinct  form  just  what  most  people  will  be  likely  to  want  to  know." 

Cincinnati  Times-Star. 
"  The  volume  is  full,  well  arranged,  and  interesting." 


CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 
153-157  Fifth  Avenue,  -  NEW  YORK 


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